


Into The Light

by IWillScreamIntoTheAbyss



Series: Come into the light [1]
Category: Splatoon
Genre: Agent 3 cant catch a break, DedF1sh is nonbinary, Panic Attacks, Pearl and MArina are dating at this point but its never mentionned, eight needs a hug, for a prison break song nasty majesty has no right to go that hard, ill add tags as i post the chapters, mildly graphic descriptions of injuries, rating is because of a few swears here and there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-12
Updated: 2018-09-06
Packaged: 2019-06-26 11:27:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 31,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15662316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IWillScreamIntoTheAbyss/pseuds/IWillScreamIntoTheAbyss
Summary: An Octoling wakes up with no memories, an old man standing above her and threatening a fist fight. Then, they learn they have to work together.Agent 3 finds herself deep underground, alone, injured and kinda freaked out.A doctor and a DJ try to infiltrate a top-secret underground facility.While they have different stories, they all have the same goal: the surface.





	1. In the Dark

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! This is my first Splatoon fic and I hope y'all enjoy it! I'll post the chapters as I edit them since the whole fic is already written, so if everything goes right I should be able to upload one chapter per day.

Would you like to hear a story that echoes from deep underground?

Pale summer moonlight shimmers on the seafloor.  
An octopus, unaware that dawn will bring capture,  
Rests within a trap, dreaming fleeting dreams...

C:≡ くコ:彡 C:≡ 

She came to and heard a voice talking to her. 

“This isn’t over, Octoling! Wake up and face me!”

She couldn’t move. Everything hurt. But she didn’t want to die, so she forced herself to open her eyes.

She had to close them immediately. It hurt. After a moment, she opened them again and saw an old man looking over her.

“But it would be unfair to fight and unarmed foe,” the old man continued. “Get up, find a weapon and fight me!”

She looked up at him. “Who are you?” 

“Oh! I ramble on and on and forget to introduce myself! I’m Cap’n Cuttlefish. What about you?” 

She blinked. She dug through her mind. For a name. For an identity. For anything.

There was nothing.

She didn’t get up or move. She just looked at the old man. She had no idea if he could see the fear she was feeling.

“I-" she started saying. “I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?”

They looked at each other in silence. She still hadn’t gotten up from the floor. 

“Well, whatever. I noticed you were humming the Calamari Inkatation before you came to. Anyone who knows that song is no enemy of mine.”

Now that he mentioned it, the name of the song did sound familiar. So did the tune at the edge of her mind.

“C’mon, get up and get your land legs,” he motioned with his cane. “Let’s work together to find a way out of here.” So much for wanting to fight her. 

She looked around, taking in her surroundings. She carefully took her first steps and the old man followed her. They were inside some sort of tunnel. 

On her right, the path had crumbled. On the left, the tunnel continued and faded to darkness. 

“No choice but to go that way,” the nameless octoling muttered. 

She could only walk through the tunnel and not the platform they were on. 

She helped the old man down. Slowly, they walked through the pitch black tunnel. The only light came from small, useless lights on the sides of the tunnel. She could barely make out some drawings and writings scribbled on the walls, but it was too dark for her to make sense of it.

Eventually, they were back in the lights of the ceiling, though like everything else around here, it was dilapidated. They climbed onto the platform. She pulled the captain up by his cane. 

Once on the platform, he pointed to the other end of it. “If we can find a key, we can open that vault and move on. No idea where the key might be though.”

She looked around the platform, spotting old vending machines and broken stairs. There was also a little metal circle pad thing. “Maybe through there?” she asked. 

“It’s likely. You go check it out.”

Check it out she did, because Captain Cuttlefish was old and she had no idea how he was standing. 

When she stepped on the thing, glass walls rose around her and a screen appeared in front of her eyes. 

She had the “choice” of one weapon: the Splattershot Jr . She chose it, not really having a choice. 

_“It’s the easiest of weapons to wield,”_ a voice rang in her head. _“Once you’ve mastered it, you can move onto more difficult weapons.”_ It sounded strict. 

She ignored it as the weapon appeared and fell into her hands. Thankfully, she still had an ink tank on her back. 

“Looks like you got a weapon, good job!” the old man said from across the room, his voice echoing across the walls. 

She walked into what looked like a training area of sorts. The old man talked her through it, but she didn’t really need it. She knew how inkrails worked and how to break boxes. She might not remember anything about herself, but if there was one thing she knew it was the battlefield. 

That probably sounded sad, now that she thought about it.

She quickly found the key and put it on her belt before heading out. When she stepped onto the metal, the glass walls rose and took the weapon away. 

“Darn it, looks like you can’t take the weapon out of there.” 

It was frustrating, to say the least. At least she still had the key so they could move on. 

The vault opened and they found themselves once again walking down a dark tunnel. Hopefully, they’d find where they were and a way to get out of here sooner rather than later. 

C:≡ くコ:彡 C:≡ 

Agent 3 woke up to a dull, throbbing pain in her entire upper body. With a groan, she pulled herself up to a sitting position. Pain exploded through her shoulder and gripped it, biting her lips so she wouldn’t scream. 

She looked over and saw that part of her ink tank had shattered and part of the glass had embedded itself into her shoulder. 

“Fuck,” she muttered. 

She patted her belt with her good hand and found that by some miracle, the first aid kit she kept was still there. Having worked at a clinic, she knew that ripping the glass out was an absolutely terrible idea. However, keeping the glass in was also a terrible idea. After a mental coin flip, she removed the glass shards. This time, she did scream. 

After bandaging up her wounds as best as she could, she carefully stood. This place reminded her of some old train stations, though she had a feeling that this wasn’t any train station she’d ever been in . 

The ground shook and she saw something approaching at high speed. She knelt down so she wouldn’t be seen by whatever that was. The tunnel was flooded with light, then she saw a train pass by with no signs of slowing. Within seconds, it was out of sight. 

“Ok, so somehow I ended up in an underground train system,” she said to herself. “I’m alone, I’ve got my heroshot but my ink tank is broken so I can’t really use it. My shoulder hurts like hell but I’m alive.”

She had no idea how she might have ended up here. She’d been on a mission, exploring what had seemed to be an abandoned Octarian city. She’d run into a lone Octoling who was pacing, for some odd reason. The Captain had told her to fight it, and she did. 

And then she had no clue. 

A bell-like noise rang through the tunnel and echoed off the graffitied walls. “The next metro will be the last for the night, please make sure to catch it. We at Kamambo Co. take pride on being on time and tidy. Please catch the last train of the night so you can be home on time. Thank you for riding with us and using the Deepsea Subway for all of your travel needs.” There was another ring noise before silence fell again. 

At least she’d learnt a few things: it was pretty late at night and was in a place called the Deepsea Subway, which meant she was probably underwater. In Inkopolis, the last train left at around 2 in the morning. She guessed this was probably the same thing. 

She wasn’t really tired and it would be safer to walk the tracks after the trains were done passing for the night. 

About ten minutes later, another train passed through and the wind blew. Once again, it passed straight through and didn’t stop. This was an abandoned station, then. 

After waiting a few more minutes to make sure there was nothing else that would come through, she hoped down onto the rails and walked. 

She still had her headset, so she tried to communicate with the captain or anyone that might hear her. The only thing that came through was radio static. There was no signal down here. She sighed and just walked into the darkness of the tunnels.

C:≡ くコ:彡 C:≡ 

The nameless Octoling and Captain Cuttlefish made their way through the tunnel in silence. They found themselves at what seemed to be another platform, though this one had rails on both sides. 

After pulling the old man onto the platform itself, the phone in the middle of it started ringing. She looked at the old man, confused. He just shrugged. “Might as well answer.”

She agreed, so they walked towards the phone. 

When she reached out to answer, the phone started moving and talking. She took a step back, startled.

[SEARCHING FOR NUMBER ID…]  
[USER 10008 CONFIRMED]  
“Greetings, number 10 008! Your location is: Deepsea Metro Central Station. My role is to facilitate your journey to the promised land.”  
[ASSESSING COMMUNICATION EFFICIENCY…]  
[EFFICIENCY: 12,42%]  
[ENABLING CONTEMPORARY SPEECH MODE]  
“What is crackalackin, home skillet? Let us bounce to the promised land fo sho. Let me lay on the facts so listen while I do. You have spent your entire life in the dark. Your eyes closed to the hotness that awaits. The promised land. A utopia of light beyond your wildest dreams. It is all that a bag of cool beans.”

She might not remember much about anything, but she was pretty sure she’d never, ever heard anyone speak like that. Ever.

“I will take you to the promised land now! NOT! HA HA HA. Psyche. Only cats who have proven themselves can [ERROR] to the promised land. Ya dig?”

“There have been 10 007 applicants so far, which makes you applicant 10 008. This opportunity comes once in a lifetime, yo. Good luck and [SLANG_NOT_FOUND]. This is Deepsea Metro Central Station, the realio dealio central hub of the facility. Here is your CQ-80 and CQ card. They are so bad.”

The telephone spit out a card and an another device fell to the ground. They landed at her feet. 

“Guard them with your lizzife, otherwise you will be [ERROR]. Now come on ride the train. Outie 5000.”

The phone stopped talking and she stared at the things it had spit out before bending down to pick them up. 

“Applicant 10 008, huh?” the old man spoke up. “That’s quite the beakful. I’ll call you Agent 8 for short. The promised land must be the surface. I wonder how deep we are?”

Right as he finished saying it, a loud noise echoed through the tunnel and a light appeared. A train slowly came to stop in front of them and one of its doors opened. She shared a look with the old man and he followed her in. Right as they stepped in, the doors closed and the train started moving. 

C:≡ くコ:彡C:≡ 

After seemingly hours of wandering through dark tunnels, Agent 3 found herself at a station who still had its lights on. This place was cleaner than the rest of the everything so far. She crawled onto the the platform. 

She tried to read some of the writing and advertisements on the walls. Two years of working on Octo Valley, she’d picked up quite a bit of Octonese. 

“Join the Deepsea Subway team today!” “Help push back the salmonids and join Brizzko Industries!” “The Kamabo Corporation has your safety and comfort in mind!” 

That didn’t tell her much about this area. Or where she was. Or how she’d gotten there. She kept looking around the station, walking slowly so her footsteps wouldn’t echo and give away her position. There was a series of turnstiles separating her from some stairs. She could easily jump them, so she did. She climbed the stairs two by two until she reached the top several minutes later. 

She was in a wide expanse of nothing. There was a closed store to her right and above, signs pointing in all directions. Oddly enough, it seemed to be showing numbers instead of places. 

The doors to the outside were locked shut. No matter how hard she pushed, she couldn’t make them budge. 

After a few attempts, she slumped against the wall and let herself slide down. Her eyes were closing on their own and her limbs felt heavy. She couldn't sleep here. Come morning, people would likely come pouring in. Considering everything here was written in Octonese, she’d likely be in trouble if anyone saw her. 

With a sigh, she stood back and made her back down the stairs, jumping the turnstiles once again. She went back to the tunnels and found a little outcropping that would be safe from any passing trains. 

Exhausted, she curled into a ball and quickly fell asleep.


	2. Meetings

Captain Cuttlefish sat onto a bench and leaned back. “I’m exhausted. I’m going to rest my cuttlebones here, Agent 8.”

She nodded. The name was odd, but not unwelcome. She couldn’t constantly be referring to herself as “the nameless Octoling” forever, after all. 

She heard something and looked over to see the doors of the train car opening seemingly by themselves. Once the second door opened, she saw a sea cucumber crawling up to them. 

“Welcome aboard the Deepsea Metro,” they said. 

“What the?” Captain Cuttlefish exclaimed. “A talking sea slug?”

“Pardon me?” the sea cucumber replied. “I take it this is your first time riding with us…” they crawled closer. “Here’s the deal. We’re in a vast underground facility operated by the Kamabo Corporation… It’s a series of test chambers connected by the Deepsea Metro subway system.” They turned to her. “I see that you’re in possession of a CQ-80 device. I take it your aim is to reach the promised land?”

Agent 8 nodded.

“That’s right!” Cap’n Cuttlefish joined in. “We want out of here!”

“Understood,” the sea cucumber replied. “The promised land is a paradise to which we denizens of the depths are forbidden entry. To reach it, you must pass a test at each Deepsea Metro station. You must also find and collect four thangs. When all four have been gathered, the door to the promised land shall open. Call me C.Q. Cumber, by the way.”

Agent 8 tried really hard not to snort. She somehow managed.

“So all we have to do is pass some tests and find some strange thangs and we can go home?” Cap’n Cuttlefish asked.

“Yes. Let me show you your first test. Please activate your CQ-80.”

She looked down at the device in her hand and pressed the only button on it. It projected a screen in front of her that showed a yellow line and her current location. Following instructions from C.Q. Cumber, she selected her destination. 

[Looks like the real thing… FAKE PLASTIC STATION ==> Get to the goal!]

The train departed for the station. For a few minutes, the train moved along and Agent 8 had to grab a pole to keep her balance. Soon enough, the train came to a stop the doors slid open. She stepped out and so did C.Q. Cumber. The Captain had to stay inside.

“You can select your weapon from the Equipper,” they said. “Each test costs a certain amount of CQ points. We’ll give you 1000 to start off. Good luck out there.”

She stepped onto the equipper, the same device as before. This time, she was given the “choice” of the Splattershot. She took it. 

She stood in front of the turnstile and passed her card. A countdown started and she got ready. When it hit zero, she leapt out and landed on the checkpoint pad. She found herself in a weird forest-like place.

After a taking a few steps forward, she heard the sound of other people spawning in. It was an Octoling. At least, she was pretty sure. Something about it was off, but she couldn’t quite tell what. Aside from the fact that her skin was sickly green and that her tentacles were completely limp. 

“Hey, another Octoling!” Cap’n Cuttlefish called through her ear. “You two are friends right? Maybe you can talk to them.”

A flat, dead voice came from the Octoling. “Target acquired. Seek and destroy.”

She used a super jump and landed in the forest that had now become an arena. 

“Egad!” Cap’n Cuttlefish exclaimed. “Are they really going to attack a fellow Octarian?”

They were, Agent 8 thought. They were. 

“Hey, can’t we talk this out?” She said. 

The Octoling completely ignored her and kept firing. She yelped and ducked into her ink to avoid the shots. She leaped out of her ink quickly splatted the Octoling, who exploded into pink ink. Agent 8 wiped the green ink from her face. It stung.

“Well, looks like splatting them was the right thing to do,” the Captain said. “The door’s opening.”

She inked the ground and swam through the door. Once again, she heard the noise of people spawning in. This time, there were two Octotlings. She managed to fight them off. It felt wrong to splat them, but it was splat or be splatted here. 

Another door opened and she found herself in another room with another Octoling. Once it had fired a few shots, it activated an Inkjet. 

“Oh shit.”

She ducked into her ink and swam away, waiting for it to run out. She placed herself next to the marker. Once the Octoling landed, she fired and splatted it immediately. 

“Good job!” The Captain exclaimed. 

She couldn't help but smile as she walked up the the floating pieces of metal and shot at it until it turned until a pole. When she touched it, she was transported back to the equipper and a happy tune played, signifying she’d passed the test. 

A little thing floated into her hands. It looked like an Inkling with orange tentacles. She put it in her pocket before following C.Q. Cumber back into the train. 

くコ:彡 C:≡ くコ:彡

Agent 3 was woken up by a light being flashed at her head. “Non-employees can’t be here.”

She blinked through the light and was immediately awake when she saw an Octoling standing above her. She scrambled up and tried to back up, but found herself against a wall. She felt something wet on her shoulder and knew her injury had started bleeding again. 

“You’re an Inkling,” the Octoling muttered. “How did you even get down here?”

“I don’t know,” Agent 3 replied. 

The Octoling scratched the back of her head and sighed. “Come with me, I’ll make sure that wound of yours gets looked at. And keep you out of sight.”

“How can I trust you?” She was getting ready to make a run for it. Just because her hroshot was useless didn’t mean she didn’t know how to throw a punch. And she wasn’t scared to bite if need be.

The Octoling looked at her for a moment, likely thinking about what to say. “Fuck DJ Octavio.”

Agent 3 couldn’t help but laugh. No Octarian who was on Octavio’s side would ever dream of saying that. The Octoling laughed too and held out her hand. 

“C’mon, let’s get you out of here before the trains start passing through.” 

She pulled Agent 3 to her feet and helped her back to the platform. It was still empty, but the lights were brighter. The Octoling led her to a little booth next to the turnstiles and closed the door behind them. 

She motioned for a couch which looked like it had been made fifty years ago. Agent 3 sat on it and felt the springs dig into her thighs. 

“I know, that thing is super uncomfortable but it’s the best we got down here. I’m gonna go get a first aid kit, I’ll be right back. You should take your ink tank off, by the way. Bad for your back.”

With that, the Octoling went back through the door. Agent 3 stood up and looked around the little booth. It was big enough to fit about four people and there were two seats facing a window. There was a hole in the glass to let things through. There were a few picture frames here and there. She picked one up. Two Octolings were smiling at the camera. One was the one who’d helped and the other she didn’t recognise. She put the picture down. 

Considering her ink tank was busted, it was a good idea to take it off. She reached for the back of her neck and carefully took out the plug that connected to her ink sack. She then shrugged off her tank as if it was a backpack. She rubbed the sore spot on her neck, then sat back down on the couch. 

A few minutes later, the Octoling returned, a few boxes in hand. She put them down on the desk. “I hope you like waffles, it’s all the guy at the store upstairs could get me at this hour.”

“Waffles are fine,” she replied. 

“First though, your shoulder. You’re gonna have to take your shirt off.”

Agent 3 was taken aback by how blunt she was. “Shouldn’t you ask me out for dinner first?”

The Octoling snorted. “What’s your name? I forgot to ask. I’m Adeline.”

“I’m Leanne.” She still wasn’t sure if she could trust Adeline, but she really didn’t have much of a choice considering her situation.

Leanne took off cloak, then her vest, then carefully peeled off her undershirt. Her shoulder hurt like hell and there was blue blood all over her clothes.She’d have to launder if she ever got out of here.

She turned around and let Adeline work on the injury. Every part of her training was telling her to absolutely not do that, but she had no choice but to trust her. She couldn’t fight with a broken ink tank, let alone with a bleeding shoulder. 

“This is gonna burn,” Adeline said. 

It did a lot more than burn, but Leanne kept her mouth shut by biting her lip. After the initial burn, her skin went numb and she felt Adeline wrap some bandages around her shoulder. 

“That should do it. I used to be a doctor, so don’t worry, I know what I’m doing.” Adeline said. “Don’t strain it too much and you should be good as new in a few days.”

Leanne nodded. “Do you have a sewing kit so I can fix up my shirt? And what do you mean you “used” to be a doctor?”

“I think Nella keeps one around here, lemme check,” Adeline said as she rummaged through the desk. “And once I heard the Calamari Inkantation, I knew I had to get out, so I left the city and found my way down here. It’s not much better, but at least I’m alive, which is more than I can say for others who heard the song and tried to escape.”

She eventually found a sewing kit. “In the meantime, wear this,” she threw both the kit and a sweater at Leanne. It was a pale blue colour with a dark blue logo in the center of it. 

“The subway’s going to open soon, we should eat.” Adeline said, looking out of the window of the booth. 

Leanne had no idea what to reply aside from putting the sweater on. She’d known the Calamari Inkantation had weird powers, but she hadn’t thought it would do this to Octolings.

Adeline handed Leanne one of the boxes. There were waffles with whipped cream and fruits. She couldn’t complain about that. She’d been starving. The last thing she remembered eating was some sardinium a few hours before she found herself in that abandoned city, and she’d wandered that thing for hours with the Captain.

“What’s the surface like?” Adeline asked between two bites. 

Leanne hesitated. 

“My grandmother used to tell me stories all the time when I was little,” Adeline continued.

Leanne started talking. She talked about the countryside and the farms she’d grown up on, then about the big city. Adeline listened to every word, taking it all in. 

Leanne was cut short by a chime. “The first trains will depart in ten minutes. Employees, please finish your preparations.”

Adeline sighed and used the computer on the desk. “You’re going to want to keep out of sight. I’m the only one with the morning shift, so that won’t be a problem, but the subway users can’t see you or I’ll be in big trouble.”

“Alright,” Leanne said. “I’ll sew up my shirt.”

Adeline nodded. She opened her booth and typed at the computer until all of the turnstiles made a noise. She also opened some curtains until her panel of glass was open. “If you sit right there, people won’t be able to see you. The doors are locked, so no one can come in. You can take one of the chairs. I hate that couch.”

Leanne settled on a chair and got to work. Maybe she could still save her shirt. 

くコ:彡 C:≡ くコ:彡

Agent 8 returned to the train and the Cap’n gave her a thumbs up. “Good job kiddo! At this rate we'll make it to the surface in no time.”

“Everytime you beat a station, you’ll unlock the adjacent ones on the line,” C.Q. Cumber told her. “You’ll also receive a mem cake. It’s memories compressed together into a physical form.”

She looked at the little inkling girl in her hand. She remembered a concert, and then an inkling barging in and fighting someone. It wasn’t much, but it was something. 

She looked at the Captain and saw he was fiddling with a walkie-talkie. It made a jumble of noise.

“Oho!” He exclaimed. “I hear something! Come in, Agent 3! Agent 3, do you copy?”

“MIC CHECK, ONE-TWO, WHO THE HECK ARE YOU?”

Agent 8 jumped and the Captain dropped the walkie-talkie.

“Excuse me?!” the Captain exclaimed.

“Pearl!” Another voice rang out, seemingly scolding the other one. “Didn’t anyone teach you to respect your elders?”

“Hwa?” The Captain was just as confused as Agent 8 was. “Who am I speaking to? Where is Agent 3? State your names!”

“Uh, I think I asked you first, dude,” the first voice said. “Anyway, I’m Pearl, but you can call me MC.Princess!” She started rapping, for some reason. 

“Oho?” The Captain replied. “Check it, kid. Are you stepping to me with a rap battle? MC Craig in the house!” For some ungodly reason, he started rapping too.

“Ok you two,” the second voice interrupted. “That’s ENOUGH!”

Oh, Agent 8 liked this one.

“Mr. Cuttlefish, was it?” She continued. “We found a radio here and heard your transmission. We’re currently on Mount Nantai. Where are you calling from?”

“Mount Nantai…” the Captain said. “Why, that’s near Octo Valley! Agent 8 and I were near there, but someone seems to have taken us deep underground, maybe even deeper than Octo Valley.”

“I see…” the second voice muttered. “So you and this Agent 8 don’t know where you are? Sorry to hear that. But worry not! From now on, you’ll have me, Marina- aka DJ_Hyperfresh, supporting you! I’ll get to work on analyzing your surroundings, and hopefully I’ll be of some help to you!”

“I don’t really get what’s going on,” Peal said, “but hang tight. We got you!”

“Ok, well…” The Captain replied. “Anyone who loves rapping is a friend of mine. Thanks for your help! We’re off to pass some sorta tests and make our way to the promised land!”

“By “we” you mean me, don’t you Captain?” Agent 8 said. 

“Yes.”

She sighed.

“We’ll support you all the way, Agent 8!” Marina said. “We can watch you take the tests, so we can give advice!”

She moved on the next test, their supportive voices in her ears. 

“That’s odd,” Marina said after she splatted an Octarian. “I can’t detect any vital signs from that Octarian.”

Agent 8 felt her stomach drop. That’s why the other Octolings earlier felt off. How was that even possible? She wasn’t sure she wanted to know. Or become one of them. She had to pass the tests to get to the promised land. She couldn't end up like them. 

She was doing well until her first 8-ball stage. She had no idea what purpose an 8-ball served, but she hated them. Now, she knew why the equipper also strapped that bag at the bottom of her ink tank. 

Half an hour and many attempts later, she collected her mem cake and went back to the train. If she never saw an 8-ball again it would be too soon. 

She plopped down on the bench next to Cap’n Cuttlefish. 

“I’m glad that’s over,” she declared. 

“If a test is ever too hard, you can call for help!” Marina said over the walkie-talkie. “I’ll gladly hack into the system and make it think you passed.”

Agent 8 nodded before remembering that Marina couldn’t see her when she was in the train. “I’ll keep that in mind, thanks.”

“You should also get some rest,” Pearl chimed in. “It’s getting pretty late, and you won’t get anywhere if you’re tired.”

That was true. She checked the CQ-80 and saw that she was almost done completing all of the stations on line A. She also discovered line B, which had a thang on it. She yawned and stretched. She felt alright, but knew that tests could take a lot out of her. 

“I’m going to call it a day,” Agent 8 declared. “I want to be well-rested for what’s coming next.”

“Goodnight Agent 8!” Marina said. 

“Yeah, sleep tight!” Pearl replied. 

“Goodnight you two,” Eight said. 

She wished a good night to the Captain before curling up on the bench. 

くコ:彡 C:≡ くコ:彡

Leanne finished sewing up her shirt in about an hour. She had as only company Adeline, who was busy working. It seemed like she was giving people passes so they could take the train. There was a never-ending flood of them. 

To pass the time, Leanne started taking her heroshot apart. She’d lost her charger and roller and this was all she had left. She checked for damage, cleaned it and put it back together. She did this process five and a half times before someone walked into the little booth. 

“Thank cod Nella,” Adeline said without looking over. “I could really use a hand.”

Nella was another Octoling, who had frozen after closing the door behind her. 

“Why is there an Inkling on my chair?” She looked between Leanne and Adeline. Leanne gave a small wave and smile. 

Adeline looked over. She quickly finished with her client. “I’ll be back in a minute,” she told the next person. “Please be patient.”

She closed the curtain and turned around. “I found her passed out in the tunnel and brought her back here. Her shoulder was all mashed up and I fixed her up.”

Nella still looked confused. “She won’t hurt us?”

“Not unless you make the first move,” Leanne said. 

“I’ll explain everything in more detail, but please Nella, trust me on this. I’ll explain during the lunch break.”

“Ok.”

Leanne got up and gave Nella the chair she’d been taking. She watched as the two opened up their curtains and got to work. 

Adeline had black tentacles that faded into pink, while Nella’s were dark blue then faded into pink. It was pretty. Both of them had long tentacles, though Nella’s were shorter in the back. 

With absolutely nothing better to do, Leanne decided to take a nap. 

She was woken up by Nella poking her. “It’s lunch time,” she said. She handed her a hat with headphones. “To hide your tentacles and ears,” she explained. 

Leanne nodded and put them on. She pulled the hood of her sweater over her head and tucked her tentacles in the sweater. The headphones were too small for her ears, so she put them around her neck instead. 

“So long as no one looks too closely, you look like unfashionable Octoling,” Adeline declared. “Now, let’s go get some grub and talk.”

Leanne followed the two up the stairs she’d gone up the night before. They were filled with jellyfish and other sea creatures going about their day. Before long, she found herself in a massive food court. 

“Go get a seat,” Adeline said. “Is a hot dog ok?”

“Yeah, that’s fine,” Leanne replied. 

Nella and Adeline vanished in the crowd, leaving Leanne alone. She found a table with three free spots and sat down. She hoped that the Captain was alright. He’d been with her during the attack. Sure, he could defend himself, but he was also old and probably wouldn’t last that long in a one-on-one. 

She patted her pant to see that her phone was still there. She’d completely forgotten about it. She was hopeful for a moment, before seeing that not only was there no service down here, but that it only had 10% of its battery remaining. Shit. She sighed and put the phone back into her pocket. 

She was in the middle of enemy territory and was depending on two Octolings for survival. She had to find the Captain and get of here. Hopefully in that order. She wondered if her cousin was worried. She probably was. Or maybe she appreciated having the appartement to herself. 

Silently, Nella sat down at the table. She’d gotten some kind of soup. “Do you have any siblings?” she asked. 

“No, but I have a cousin,” Leanne replied. “She’s a year older than me.”

Nella nodded. “My little sister is three years younger than me. I haven’t seen her in awhile, I hope she’s alright.”

Leanne nodded, not sure how to reply. 

Before it could get too awkward, Adeline arrived. She handed a plain hot dog over and Leanne accepted it. 

“So, you want to get back to the surface right?” Adeline got right to business. 

“Yeah,” Leanne replied. “I have to find the Captain first though. He’s an old inkling with a beard. Last I saw him, he was wearing a green tracksuit and a beret with glasses.”

“I’ll send a word to the other employees to keep an eye out for him,” Adeline said. “We can help you to the surface, but on one condition: you take us with you.”

Leanne took a bite of her hot dog to avoid answering immediately. Helping these two to the surface was the least she could do, really. Marina from Off The Hook was an Octoling, so they wouldn’t be the first ones in Inkopolis. 

“We also need to find Ellie and Paishe,” Nella added. “But we aren’t sure if they’re down here.”

“We know Paishe is, but I don’t know about Ellie,” Adeline replied. 

“Who?” Leanne asked. 

“Paishe is my little brother. The last time I saw him, he said he’d found a way to the surface via the Deepsea Subway. I haven’t heard anything about him since,” Adeline explained. “If he’s alive, he’s either down here or on the surface.”

“Ellie is the sister I told you about,” Nella said. “We think she’s still in Octo Valley with her platoon.”

Leanne nodded. “Well, there’s ways into the valley from the surface, so we can look for her once we’re there. As for Paishe, I don’t know. For now, we should focus on the surface. Also, how well trained are you two?”

Adeline and Nella shared a look. 

“I think the last time I held a weapon was when I was 13, and I’m 21,” Adeline winced. 

Nella nodded. “It was about 6 years ago for me. Haven’t done any fighting since I became a DJ.”

“I’ll be doing the fighting, then,” Leanne declared. 

The other two nodded. 

“Do you guys know how someone can get to the surface from here?” Leanne asked. 

“There’s 36 lines total in the metro, but only 26 available to the public. Those other 10? Completely off-limits. Only certain employees can go there, or people with the right paperwork. There’s rumours that braving every station on those lines lets you go to the promised land,” Adeline explained.

“Which is probably the surface,” Nella finished. 

“The problem is getting to those ten lines. When I found you this morning, I was looking for a way through the tunnels,” Adeline continued. “We’ve managed to discover that those ten lines are below us, but we can’t figure out what lines, trains or tunnels can take you down there.”

“We take turns looking for a passage all night after work,” Nella added. “It’s my turn tonight.”

After that, Leanne followed the two back to their booth. She slept on the couch while the two worked so she would have enough energy to get through the night. 

A few hours later, Nella once again poked her awake. 

“I’ll just change your bandages and you two will be good to go,” Adeline said. 

It stung a little, but she’d been hurt worse fighting Octarians. She just didn’t mention that part. 

While Leanne put her vest and headset back on, Nella took off her work uniform to reveal a loose top that hung off one of her shoulders. She put on the cap she’s given Leanne earlier and slipped the headphones around her neck. 

Leanne had a flashlight on her heroshot, so she would use that. Nella took out a flashlight as well. Adeline headed out, wishing them luck. 

The two waited about half an hour for the crowds to thin. Once there was no one in sight, they headed into the tunnels.


	3. Adventure Begins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Italics signify a flashback and/or past events, thought I'd mention it.

_A young Octoling sat in a classroom, listening to the teacher. He was talking about the terrible creatures that were Inklings. They had betrayed the Octarian race, had almost wiped them out and forced them underground._

_All of the images used were that of an Inkling with blue tentacles that were really long._

_All of the boys squirmed. The teacher said the Inkling was an adult male, but how could his tentacles be that long? Was he not answering to his duty?_

_The girls squirmed too. Only those who were non-soldiers could have long, untied tentacles. A civilian Inkling was strong enough to take them out?_

_The teacher saw the expressions on the young Octarians and changed the slide. “Don’t worry kiddoes,” he said in a reassuring tone. “After all of your training and you become soldiers, no Inkling, no matter how well trained, can stand against you. Inklings are lazy. They are selfish. We are strong. We can defeat them.”_

_The dozen of young Octarians in front of him cheered and smiled._

_That day after school, while the younglings waited for their parents to pick them up, they used sticks and other things to have a mock turf war. They had lots of fun._

C:≡ くコ:彡 C:≡

Agent 3 and Nella walked through the dark tunnels, walking on the rails so they had more space. 

Nella sweeped the tunnels with her flashlight. Leanne had put her Heroshot away since the flashlight worked a lot better than the light duct taped to her weapon.

“You know, I don’t remember much about the last 2 years,” Nella said after a while. “I went to the hospital for a yearly checkup, but I don’t remember it. After that, there’s nothing up until a few months ago when I woke up on a hospital bed and Adeline was there, but she was different. Older. Sadder.”

Leanne didn’t answer. She let Nella tell her story. 

“You see, for Octarians music is a really special thing. You can only make it and publish it if you have DJ Octavio’s approval. In secret, one of my aunts got me a turntable when I was ten and I made music for years, but never published it. I’d be killed. A small time Octoling like me would never be important enough. Somehow, when I was 14, DJ Octavio got word of me. He wanted me to send him my best work. So I did. A few days later, I got summoned for an audience. He liked my work and wanted me to continue, so it could be broadcasted alongside his own songs. He got me set up with professional equipment and gave me a stage name. No one was going to take me seriously if my stage name was Nella Dee.” She laughed a little, a fond smile on her face. 

“What name did he give you?” Leanne asked. 

“DedF1sh.”

C:≡ くコ:彡 C:≡

Agent 8 woke up. The Captain was still sleeping. She yawned and stretched, waking up her muscles. She’d had a dream, but it was already fleeting from her memory. She shrugged it off. She didn’t have time to be distracted by dreams.

She looked out of the window and saw some fish swim by. She could see the surface of the water from here. So close, yet so far. It felt like she could just reach out and touch it. Of course, that would be a terrible idea. Octoling bodies were so dense that they simply sank in the water. Some flotation devices could be used as a safety measures whenever they worked above water, but it wasn’t often. Briefly, she got a flash of using one of those devices and some people laughing because it looked funny. She caught herself laughing softly. Then, the memory was gone.

She looked at the CQ-80 and read the chat logs that Marina had sent over. Then, she saw that there was a page for the mem cakes she’d collected. Solidified memories. 

She looked at the map and made a game plan. She wanted to go line by line and do every test on one before moving on. She only had a few tests left on A, then she’d move on to B and get the thang that was there. 

“Hey Eight, looks like you’re awake!”

The walkie-talkie came to life and Eight would be lying if she said she hadn’t been startled. She sighed and picked up the device. 

“Yeah, I’m awake Marina,” she replied. “I don’t think I can fall back asleep, I think I’m going to head back in and finished line A.”

“Alright, I’ll keep an eye on you while I work.”

“You know, you don’t have to. I might be amnesiac, but I was still a soldier. I can handle myself.”

Marina made an odd noise. “I don’t mean to imply you can’t handle yourself, Eight! I just want to help. As a former Octoling soldier myself, I know what you’re capable of. I also know it can get lonely, so I figure I can keep you company.”

“Well, when you put it that way… thanks for the company. The music playing in the tests might be really good, but it’s nice to be hearing people talking, too.”

“Oh! I haven’t really been paying attention to it. I’ll make sure to keep an ear out.”

Right as she was about to step out of the train to her next test, someone walked through the door. 

“Hello, young squire,” he said. “Iso Padre is the name I have been given. I was like you, once. I gave up on the tests long ago however, and have been on this train ever since.”

She blinked. She had no idea what to reply to this guy. She looked at the Cap’n and saw he was still asleep, so she couldn’t avoid this interaction. “Nice to meet you,” she eventually said. “The name I’ve been given is Agent 8. Eight, for short.”

He nodded. “A pleasure to meet you, Agent 8. Have you been collecting mem cakes?”

It was her turn to nod. “Yeah, from the tests I’ve completed.”

“You should know that each line of the system has a set of mem cakes,” he said. “If you show me a full set, I’ll be sure to give you a reward. You see, down here, these fragments of memories are the only things we denizens of the depths can cling to.”

“I’ll be sure to show them to you,” she said. “I have to go now though, I’ve got tests to complete.”

“Of course, don’t let me hold you. I’ll be right here,” he sat down on a bench.

She nodded, putting the walkie-talkie down next to the Cap’n and stepping through the doors before C.Q. Cumber got too impatient.

[Blast from the past! FAR-OUT STATION ⇒ Carry the Rainmaker to the goal!]

This time, the rules were a little different from everything else so far. She had a time limit instead of the usual amount of respawns. What even was a Rainmaker?

Marina made an excited noise. “Sounds like you’re playing Rainmaker! It’s one of my favourite ranked modes. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I’d get to play it with the members of my platoon when we were training. You have to bring that golden contraption there to the enemy base. Good luck!”

Agent 8 had no idea how this could Marina’s favourite thing. It was a pain in the ass! The Rainmaker made her visible to all of the Octolings, even when she was swimming. It also took a long time for it to charge up and the time on the clock was winding down. 

“Take the side routes!” Marina suggested. 

That… was a good idea. She swam to the Rainmaker and made its bubble inksplode, taking out three Octolings at once. She grinned as she jumped behind their lines and took out their splash walls. She could see the goal and had a little less than a minute on the clock. She inked the path in front of her and swam to victory. 

There was an Octoling coming in from behind, but all she had to do was jump, ink the hill and slam the Rainmaker down. 

She was transported back to the equipper and she jumped for joy. Marina cheered in her ear. The mem cake was a little squid. She smiled and hopped back onto the train. 

Agent 8 felt revitalised and while it was still really early in the morning, she got started on line B. Pearl and the Captain were still asleep, so she only had Marina and C.Q Cumber’s company. She didn’t mind. 

Even if she did end up failing quite a few tests. 

After a few tests, Marina chimed in her ear. “So, I’ve been listening to the music playing down here. I’ve heard the style before. It sounds a lot like DedF1sh’s work. She’s an Octarian DJ. I met her once before I defected, she was really nice. I’ll send you a picture of her. I’m not sure how her music got all the way down there though.”

Agent 8 nodded. 

After the test she made sure to look at the chat logs. 

She recognised Marina as one of the two girls because of the pictures in the chat log. The other had blue and pink tentacles and red eyes. Something about her seemed familiar, but Agent 8 couldn’t quite place it. Maybe she’d listened to her music before. She shrugged and moved on. 

Eventually, Pearl and the Captain started talking. Pearl was asking why they’d gotten started before she’d woken up and Marina went on a tangent about waking up earlier. Eight laughed as she listened to the two of them argue. 

In between stations, she could see that Iso Padre and the Cap’n were getting along fine, which was good.

After a few hours, she reached the station with the thang. 

[Here lies the foundational thang. GRAB & GO STATION]

She was given a splattershot and swam to it, expecting a fight. Instead, the room was empty and vast with nothing but the thang surrounded by an ink shield. She broke it. She used a pushing cart that C.Q Cumber had given her to take it back to the train. Once back in there, the Captain high-fived her. He also did a little dance and dragged her into it. She laughed. 

C:≡くコ:彡C:≡ 

“Do you still follow Octavio?” Leanne asked after a few beats of silence. 

“Hell no,” Nella replied. “Sure, he did some good things for Ellie and I, but he still brainwashed our entire species. I can’t forgive for that.”

Leanne nodded. 

Then she stopped dead in her tracks. 

“What’s wr-” Nella started, but they were shushed. 

Leanne knelt down and she felt the ground shake. 

“There’s a train passing,” she declared. 

Nella’s brows furrowed. “No trains run at this hour, not even for maintenance.”

“Could it be one of those trains on the secret lines?”

“Probably.”

The two kept walking, keeping an ear out for other sounds. Then, they heard a chime. It was getting louder by the second and the ground shook with more intensity. Nella grabbed Leanne and the two climbed onto the elevated edge, pressing themselves against the wall. 

A song blared through the tunnel as a train whizzed by. Nella could see there were people on the train, but couldn’t get any details.

Within seconds, the train was gone.

“We have to follow it!” Leanne exclaimed, jumping back down onto the rails. “That was the Captain!”

Nella had no idea how Leanne had been able to see what was inside the train. It had passed so quickly! Still, they couldn’t just leave her behind to get lost in the tunnels.

They followed after Leanne, running as fast as their legs would carry them. 

Not to mention that they’d written that song. They hadn’t given anyone permission to use it!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Nella is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, but since Leanne doesn't know and parts of the story are from her point of view, Nella is referred to as "she" during those parts.)


	4. Testing in Progress

Without any prompting, the train went back to the central station, where Agent 8 dropped off the thang. 

When she arrived at the station, the telephone started talking.

“You are da bomb for rizzle! You got the first thang! Find all four and you will [ERROR] to the promised land. Keep on keeping on!”

Now, she was an amnesiac. She didn’t remember much of anything. But she was pretty sure no one spoke like that. The phone’s contemporary speech mode needed to be updated. Badly. As soon as possible.

“So this is one of the four thangs, eh?” Cap’n said. “These thangs are as weird as this place, but we gotta get out of here somehow… Let’s hurry up and find three more! I’m counting on you, Agent 8!” he cheered. 

Eight walked back onto the train and looked at the map on the CQ-80. She had a lot of options. Line C was next in an alphabetical order and it had a thang on it. It seemed like the most logical option, so she went for that. 

She quickly developed a seething hatred for this line. Sure, a few tests on B had been difficult but this? This was bullshit. She’d spent the last hour trying to beat Move it move it station. It was finally done. She collected her mem cake and walked back to the train, C. Q. Cumber leading the way. 

The bomb attached to her ink tank was gone for now. As soon as she reached the promised land, she’d burn it. She would get herself an ink tank that wouldn’t blow up on her. She’d also get herself a hair tie. It was getting in her face and she was tired of always brushing it behind her ear and it falling out five seconds later.

First though, she had to get these thangs. After taking a few minutes to gather herself and read through some new chat logs, she moved on to the next station. 

She did fine until she reached Totally 8-Ball Station. She knew she was terrible with both weapons available. However, the .52 Gal had just a little more range so she went with that. This time, all of the walls had railings, thank cod. All she had to do was reach the goal with as many 8-Balls as possible. It only took her one try. It was so easy in fact, she tried it again with the Octobrush because she was a little low on CQ points and it would be an easy place to build them up. 

In the next station, she took the splatterscope. She couldn’t explain why, but it just felt right. She took two tries to complete this one. 

Her smile faded when she saw yet another 8-Ball level. 

“Please let it be just as easy as the last one,” she prayed. 

It wasn’t. She quickly learnt that even if she’d been a soldier, she was terrible with blasters. She couldn’t seem to get the range quite right and it was going to be the end of her. Timing and quick thinking? She had that down. The range of a blaster? She was getting there. Slowly.

On her third attempt, she ended up just shooting the switches at point blank range. It worked. 

The next one seemed easy. She just had to shoot the ground and be careful where she stepped. She chose the bamboozler, but right as it appeared in her hands, she felt her stomach drop. 

_“This weapon was popular among those of the Squibeak Splatoon. It killed thousands of us. We recovered a model of it from a successful battle.”_

She went back to the equipper and took the heavy splatling instead. 

“I know the feeling,” she heard Marina whisper. Eight was pretty sure that no one else heard it. 

She made it through without too many problems, though she did fall off the edge once. 

The next station was… odd. Simply matching the shape of the object. Though, one error meant one painful moment and having to repay the fee. She did it on her second try though. 

After that, all that was left was the thang. 

[Here lies the precision thang… SMASH & DASH STATION]

She grabbed it just as easily as she did the first one. She took a picture with her CQ-80 (a feature she’d just learnt about) before wheeling it back to the train. 

“You’ve been at this all day Eight,” Pearl said. “You should rest up before you drop off the thang. If you pass out or get really hurt we can’t really send an ambulance you way.”

“What's an ambulance?” Eight asked. 

“A kind of truck that takes you to the hospital,” Pearl answered. 

Eight nodded. Unlike yesterday, she actually was tired. She sat down next to the captain and this time, remembered to take off her ink tank. 

_“Take that thing off, dude. We’re in the house, not in a war zone.”_

_“Right, sorry. Sometimes I forget it’s on my back. I’ve gotten so used to it.”_

_“It’s fine.”_

Eight curled up on the bench, using her arm as a pillow. 

くコ:彡C:≡ くコ:彡

“Leanne!” Nella shouted. “Leanne, stop! There’s no way we’ll catch up to the train on foot. Even if we swam we wouldn’t make it.”

Leanne stop and sighed. The Captain had been right there! At least he seemed to be doing well on his own. 

Nella dug into her pocket and pulled out a piece of chalk. She drew a symbol Leanne recognised on the wall. “Is that inklish?”

“Yeah,” Nella replied. “Adeline and I use it to mark around the tunnels. People around here don’t know the language, so they think it’s just gibberish graffiti if they see it.”

[Secret train passed through ~5:30 AM.]

“We should head back,” Nella said. “The regular trains will start passing soon and we want to be out of here by then.”

Leanne let Nella lead the way. She knew the way back somehow, despite it being hard to keep track of directions down here. 

Eventually, they reached a station and climbed onto the platform. They jumped the turnstiles. Nella handed the hat she was wearing to Leanne. “You’re gonna need that.”

Quickly, Leanne shoved it on her head and tried to tuck her tentacles in. It would have to do. 

“Adeline and I don’t live that far from here, come on.”

Leanne didn’t question it. The streets were lined with lamps as Nella took Leanne’s hand. She navigated the streets expertly, avoiding the busier places. Before long, the two ended up in front of an apartment building. Nella pulled out some keys and opened the door, making a shushing sound.

They took the elevator up to the 8th floor. When they walked off, they went to the right and Nella unlocked the third door. 

Leanne looked around the apartment after she stepped in. It was small. There was a grimy-looking couch in the middle of the main room and two doors off the to the side. Adeline was in the kitchen, though it didn’t really count as one. It was an oven and a fridge with a little bit of countertop between the two. Another counter with bar stools separated it from the main area.

Adeline turned to them when they walked in. She was eating cereal. “How’d it go?” she asked, her mouth full. 

“We saw a train pass through,” Nella said. “For some reason, it was playing the first part of Fly Octo Fly.”

“It had the Captain in it,” Leanne added.

Adeline’s eyes widened. “How the hell did they get Fly Octo Fly? You never released it publicly.”

“I’ve got no clue. The only people I ever showed it to were you, Ellie and Marina. And Paishe. At least, I think Paishe heard it.”

“We’ll have to add that on the pile of mysteries of this place,” Adeline shrugged. “Leanne, you saw the guy you were looking for?”

“It was him, without a doubt. No one else but him would be caught dead in that tracksuit of his,” she replied. Which was true. That thing might’ve been fresh a hundred years ago, but certainly wasn’t these days.

Nella snorted as she poured cereal into two bowls. She added milk, took out some spoons and gave one bowl to Leanne. 

“We can talk more later, I’ve gotta get to work,” Adeline said, putting her boots on. 

“See you,” Nella said. 

Adeline left, leaving the two alone. Leanne was almost done with her food. She’d been hungrier than she thought. Nella was almost done too. 

“Now what?” Leanne asked. 

“We sleep,” Nella replied. “I’ve got work in the afternoon.”

“Sleep does sound really good.”

“We only have one bed though,” Nella said. “You can take the couch, but the bed is big enough for two.”

Leanne thought about it for a second. “I’ll take the bed.” That couch looked really gross and she wanted nothing to do with it.

“The bathroom is that door over there if you wanna clean up. I’ll try to find you something to sleep in.”

Leanne nodded and went there. The bathroom was just as small as everything else, but it was clean. She peeled off her vest and undershirt. The wound on her shoulder hadn’t opened, which was good. The bandages still had to be changed though. She dug through drawers to find some bandages and changed them. It was still sore when she moved her shoulder, but it was nowhere near as painful as it had initially been. 

There was a knock at the door. “There’s some clothes at the door.”

Leanne went to pick them up. It was a big shirt and some pants. It was sleepwear, so she didn’t care. She folded her clothes and put on these new ones. She left the bathroom to ask Nella how the shower worked. She did.

“Imma go to bed, it’s the room right next to here. Join me when you’re done.”

The shower did her good and gave her time to think. Clearly, these two Octolings were to be trusted. Right now, they were also her only way out. They wanted the surface. She wanted the surface. For now, their interests aligned. She hoped they continued to. She dried herself off and went to bed. 

Nella was fast asleep. Leanne slid next to her under the covers. The bed was comfortable. Nella had her headphones on and had fallen asleep listening to music. The phone was in her hand. Curious, Leanne looked at it. The sound at minimum. Her lock screen seemed to be a picture of herself and another Octoling. Maybe it was Ellie. Carefully, Leanne took off Nella’s headphones and put them and her phone on the small desk next to the bed. She fell asleep pretty quickly after that, hoping that wherever the Captain was now, he was safe.

くコ:彡 C:≡ くコ:彡

Agent 8 woke up and stretched. She’d had a good night’s sleep. The Captain was awake, chatting with Iso Padre. She looked at her CQ-80 and her options. She’d discovered line F the day before. It didn’t have a thang, but it might lead her to a line that had one. 

First though, she had to deliver the thang. She told C.Q. Cumber to head to the central station.

“Slammin’!” the phone exclaimed. “You have found the second thang! That is half of them. You are one bad mama jama… Rock on!”

“Hmm, look like the four thangs come in all shapes and sizes,” the Captain said.

“They look like parts of something, but I’m not sure what though,” Marina added

Eight shrugged. She had no idea what it could be either, not that she had a memory to tell her what it could be.

Since she’d completed another set, Iso Padre gave her something else. She didn’t know what she’d do with these clothes, but the Cap’n held onto them for her.

Once all of that was done, she went to the next station on her list. 

[Might as well… JUMP STATION ⇒ Jump and shoot your way to the goal!]

Jumping and trying to aim a blaster was a nightmare and a half, but she managed it one try, mostly because there was nothing who could actually kill her. 

Then, there was another Rainmaker mission. It was as much of a pain as the last one had been, because this time she knew from the start to take the side paths. It took her a few attempts, but she made it.

Cubular station was disorienting. Marina and Pearl said that this was making them dizzy, but it was making Eight a little nauseous. After completing it, she laid down on the floor of the train and stayed like that for a while. The world was still spinning and she needed a moment. 

“Are you ok Eight?” Pearl asked. 

“I just need a minute,” she replied, closing her eyes.

くコ:彡 C:≡ くコ:彡

_“How do the salmonids even get down here?” a female voice said over a comm. She sounded annoyed._

_“This lake comes from an underground river. They probably followed it,” someone replied. It was a male voice. Pretty unusual in the Octarian military._

_“It’s such a pain,” the first voice replied._

_“At least we get power eggs out of this,” another voice joined. “They’re a good source of power, so we won’t be as reliant on Zapfish as we currently are.”_

_“I can’t imagine these eggs give out that much electricity…” someone else said._

_“What do we know?” another person added. “We’re soldiers, not scientists.”_

_A horn sounds and the Octolings stand at attention, forgetting their conversation. The salmonids were here._

_A targeting laser was seen passing over the shore, looking for the chums and cohocks that preceded the bosses.There were so many chums it was impossible to see the ground underneath them, but well-placed shots from an Octoshot made quick work of the swarm. From above, an E-Liter shot down the Cohocks._

_Another horn sounded. Everyone but the sniper paid no mind. That was her job, after all. Tell them where the bosses were._

_She heard the noise before she saw it. “Flyfish!” she shouted. She dodged to the side, avoiding the missiles aimed at her. She heard the other missiles land._

_“It’s near me!” someone said. The sniper didn’t have time to put a name to the voice. Though to be fair, she still didn’t know everyone’s names._

_Two horns sounded. She quickly scanned the beach through her scope. “One scrapper and another Flyfish,” she said._

_She started shooting the Scrapper while the others finished off the first Flyfish. She saw three people swim towards the basket to drop off the eggs and the others move toward the Scrapper. Two soldiers took care of the second Flyfish._

_While they brought the eggs, three horns sounded so close together that they sounded like one long one._

_“Two stingers, one steelhead,” the sniper told them. From here, she could pick off one of the Stingers._

_She saw three people move in to finish it off and focused on the second Stinger._

_She heard a pained scream over the comm. The Steelhead’s explosion had gotten someone. She found it and while it charged up its bomb, she shot it, killing it instantly._

_“Thanks for that,” someone said._

_“No problem,” she replied._

_Five horns sounded._

_“Two steel Eels, one Maws and two Drizzlers,” she declared over the comm._

_She heard the spawn point come to life and someone jumped out. She got straight back into the action. The sniper inked the path so she could get back faster._

_Both Drizzlers had gotten off their attack, making an acidic ink cloud. The sniper hissed as some ink touched her skin, but she dove in her ink to avoid being splatted. Once back out, she found one of them and shot it twice._

_“Drizzler down,” she declared so someone could go pick up its eggs._

_She looked for the Steel Eel, then saw something gold landing on the beach._

_“Goldie near the center dock!” she alerted. “Get it!”_

_Almost everyone moved towards it. They had to get as many eggs as possible from this thing before it retreated. She saw people carrying eggs and figured they’d finished off the Steel Eel and Maws._

_The Chums and Cohocks were starting to retreat._

_“Last call,” she declared._

_The Goldie exploded with Power Eggs. Her team cheered as they all took one and brought it back to the basket._

_“That’s the last of ‘em,” someone said._

_Everyone super jumped to the spawn point._

_“Looks like we got 40 Power Eggs out of all that,” the sniper declared. “Not bad, considering a lot of you are first timers.”_

_“Looking forward to working with you again, ma’am,” she recognised the voice from the male one she’d heard earlier._

_The sniper snorted. “I’m the same age as you! You can call me Ellie.”_

_“Well, I’m Paishe, nice to meet you Ellie.”_


	5. (Un)Fortunate Developments

Eight opened her eyes a few moments later, when the world stopped spinning. Quickly, she sat up. 

“Cap’n, can I see the line C mem cakes again?”

“Sure,” he replied, taking them out of his bag. 

He gave them to her and she examined them all, laying them out on the ground in front of her. They all looked familiar. 

“I’ve fought these before,” she said. She was certain of this. It was the first time she was certain of anything. It was a feeling she hoped she would feel more often. It was a good feeling.

“They’re salmonids,” Pearl said. “They’ve been swarming islands near Inkopolis for a few years now.”

Eight nodded. 

“Sometimes, they can make their way into the Octo Depths by using underground rivers,” Marina said. “Maybe you were part of a team who took care of them?”

“Maybe,” Eight replied. The memory was already fading, but she knew she’d fought those things.

She stood and gave the mem cakes back to the Captain. She had more stations to clear.

She jumped onto line J to discover it. Her first station was a boss. She had to beat it inside of a baller. In theory, it made it impossible to lose. In practice, this guy could send her flying over the edge, fences be damned. Which she did. A lot. She quickly ran out of attempts and CQ points. 

“Looks like you're out…” Marina said. 

“Don’t worry!” Pearl chimed in. “I can send you some money to help you out. I’ll send you 3000 so you can give another shot at that weird samurai guy.”

“I’ll convert the money into CQ points so you use them,” Marina said.

“Take your time paying me back,” Pearl added. 

The points appeared in her CQ-80. Eight felt terrible, truth be told. She hated the thought of owing someone money. She’d have to work hard. She went back into the boss. She’d been so close; she knew she could finish it off. 

And finish it off she did. It took her three tries, but she left it triumphant. She sent her extra points back to Pearl. She wanted to pay off her debt as soon as possible, so she went back to line F to do all of the stations on it.

None of the stations were particularly difficult. She went back and did them with all available weapons for the extra points. There was another boss at the end of the line, but that one turned out to be really easy. 

“That was a stamp,” Pearl said, astounded. “You just fought an stamp.”

“An Octostomp, actually,” the Captain corrected her. “Agent 3 fought one of those back in the day.”

She fought the Octostomp three times, once with each weapon, and had more than enough to pay Pearl back. She also discovered line E, which had a thang on it. 

For now though, she should sleep. Her stomach grumbled. And eat. She should eat and then sleep. There was a vending machine in the train. She scanned her CQ card twice and the machine dropped two sets of rations. 

She gave one to the Captain and sat next to him while they both ate. 

“When we get out of here,” he said, “I’ll make you some crabby cakes. They’re a lot better than this tasteless stuff.”

“We’ll take you to some restaurants!” Pearl exclaimed. “You’ll never have to eat that gross stuff again.”

Eight nodded. She had no idea what crabby cakes or anything else would taste like, but it wouldn’t be hard to beat these rations. They tasted like the plastic they were wrapped in. Which was gross. She was pretty sure her boots would be tastier, but she didn’t want to find out.

Once she was done eating it, she took off her ink tank and curled up on the bench. It wasn’t comfortable, but it was better than the floor by a small margin. 

C:≡ くコ:彡 C:≡ 

Leanne woke up after Nella did. She got out of bed and stretched. She opened the curtains, expecting sunlight. The only light visible was that of the street lamps and the light from other apartments. 

It was so damn depressing down here.

She heard the shower and guessed that Nella was in there. 

She looked around the room out of curiosity. The paint was peeling off the walls and aside from the bed and desk, there was a small turntable. It looked like it had been put together using scrap metal and spare parts. It looked like it might break if she so much as breathed on it, so she didn’t look at it too long. 

There were a few framed pictures on the small desk next to the bed. 

In one of them, Adeline was standing next an Octoling boy, who was probably Paishe. She commited his face to memory so she’d recognise him if she ever saw him. In another picture, Nella was standing and smiling next to a younger Octoling, probably Ellie. 

She put the pictures down and left the bedroom, quietly closing the door behind her. 

She stood in the main room, unsure of what to do. She couldn’t go outside. As an Inkling, she would be recognised immediately. She also had no idea how to get back to the subway. Instead, she just sat at one of the barstools and waited. 

Nella stepped out of the bathroom a few minutes later. They were wearing their work uniform and had tied their tentacles back into a ponytail. Two of them were tied back at least, with the two others framing their face.

“I’ll get you some clothes,” Nella said. “That sweater you were wearing yesterday should be fine, actually. It’s still in the bathroom. Just don’t take too long, I don’t wanna be late to work.”

“No problem.”

Leanne went into the bathroom and changed quickly. She pulled the hood over her head and tucked her tentacles inside. She couldn’t really hide her eye mask, but if she kept her eyes to the ground that shouldn’t be a problem.

“We’ll eat over there, so let’s go.”

Leanne followed Nella out of the building and onto the streets. They took her hand so they wouldn’t lose her in the crowd. The route was the same as last night’s and they arrived at the subway a few minutes later. 

Nella stopped at a stand and picked up some food. After going down a few set of stairs, they arrived at the station and went into the booth. 

Leanne plopped down on the couch and dug in. Nella ate before they started working, while Adeline took a bite between each customer. 

Nella pulled out their phone and took off her headphones. They handed both to Leanne. 

“Here, so you have something to do. There’s some games on there and a lot of music.” 

“Thanks,” Leanne said. She put the headphones on and looked though the music library. She saw that quite a few were from DedF1sh. She’d never heard their music, so she selected one at random. 

It sounded like Octarian music, which made sense. It was also really fresh. Like, Squid Sisters levels of fresh. Whenever Nella got to the surface, they could get real famous real quick. 

She played some games too, distracting herself until lunch break. After settling at a table, Nella and Leanne told Adeline about last night. 

“It was in one of the maintenance tunnels,” Nella said. “Start your search there tonight.”

Adeline nodded. “By the way Leanne, I asked around for the old man you were with and no one saw him, so that was a secret train for sure.”

The three kept talking, trying to come up with plans on how to find the trains and gain access to the secret lines. The easiest way would be to follow a secret train. The only problem was actually finding one. And keeping up with it. 

After the subway closed, Leanne headed down into the tunnels with Adeline. Nella had given them the directions to where they’d seen the train the night before. 

They were mostly silent as they walked, but something had been eating away at Leanne. “You know, you Octarians aren’t all that bad. After being an Agent of the Squidbeak Splatoon for so long, I’ve just gotten used to them fighting me, but… You guys were just trying to keep your society from turning to shambles, and I stole the Zapfish back. I just made your problem worse.”

Adeline was silent for a moment. “How old were you when you were when you joined?”

“I was 15 and stupid.”

“You were 15 and you didn’t know any better,” Adeline corrected. “Us Octarians are taught practically from birth that all Inklings are evil. When you first started attacking, I believed it. I was never a soldier, but I worked in a hospital. I’d seen what you could do.”

Leanne looked at the floor.

“In a way, you and I are the same,” Adeline continued. 

Leanne didn’t look up, she just listened. 

“Ever since we’re little, we’re always told the same thing: “if you break the rules, you’ll be sanitized.” They never told us what it was, just that it was something that happened to those who were rule breakers. Those people disappeared and were never heard from again. I got curious. I asked around. I figured out what it was. It’s a process that can turn any Octoling into a killing machine. It doesn’t have feelings or physical limitations to get in the way. It obeys without question. It doesn’t even need food, water or sleep.”

Leanne looked up.

Adeline kept talking. “At the time though, it was hard to make one. It took weeks and there was a high chance they’d die. Then I had an idea: what if instead of injecting the sanitized ink, you put it directly into the ink sack? My idea got the attention of higher ups. At 15, I got access to a lab, a trained team and test subjects. Within a year, I was able to develop a new way to make sanitized Octolings. I cut the duration of the process down from a few weeks to a few hours. I made the success rate go from less than 1% to almost 100%.”

“That’s-” Leanne had no idea what to say. 

“I created them. I created monsters. I was 15 and I didn’t know any better. You hurt Octarians. I hurt Octarians. We were shaped by our society. We were 15 and stupid., but now we know better. People might never forgive us, but we can still try to make up for our mistakes.”

Leanne took a moment to think about what to answer.

“I guess we can learn from our mistakes,” she said. “But forgiving myself is harder.”

“I know,” Adeline replied, putting a hand on Leanne’s shoulder. “I’m still working on that myself. Not everyone can forgive though, and that’s something we have to accept. In secret, I started working on a way to reverse sanitization. You see, about two years ago, Nella vanished. I found out they’d been sanitized. After lots of trial and error, I found it how to do it. I can reverse it. I saved Nella. If I can save them, I can save others. I didn’t realise the kind of harm I was doing until it happened to someone I cared about.”

“I could stop fighting, or try to help the Octolings I fight find other Zapfish so they don’t have to steal them from Inkopolis,” Leanne suggested, thinking out loud.

“That’s a good idea,” Adeline agreed. 

They walked in silence, keeping an ear out for trains. 

“I hope Paishe is alright,” Adeline sighed after a while. “He was one of the few male Octolings in the army. He fought against salmonids. He was supposed to retire when he turned 19. That’s when male Octolings are pushed aside from society to raise children.”

“That explains why I haven’t seen any,” Leanne replied.

For the rest of their search, they talked about family. They also talked about their friends and their lives. 

Nella had been friends with Adeline since they were young; they’d gone to school together. Even after going to different schools, they kept in contact. Funnily enough, without either of them having to do with it, Paishe and Ellie also became best of friends. Hell, Ellie and Paishe were dating.

Leanne also learned that Nella was nonbinary and preferred they/them pronouns. She took that to memory so she could correct herself from now on.

Leanne had spent a good portion of her childhood in the countryside. She’d never been particularly social, and that didn’t improve when she moved to Inkopolis with her parents. They let her participate in turf wars, where she actually made quite a few friends and for the first time in her life, felt like she belonged. When she became an agent, her parents didn’t notice anything wrong. To be fair though, they were almost never home. They went back to the country eventually, but let Leanne stay in the city so long as she had a job and stayed in school. She did all of those while juggling agent work. Recently, her cousins had moved into an apartment with her. She hoped the two were alright.

Silence eventually fell. 

“Looks like we’re not gonna run into anything tonight,” Adeline sighed. “Let’s head back to the apartment.”

“Hopefully Nella and I will find something tomorrow.”

“Yeah, hopefully.”

C:≡ くコ:彡C:≡ 

Agent 8 dreamed, but once she woke up, they were gone in an instant. She groaned and stretched. 

“Good afternoon!” Pearl greeted. 

“Afternoon?” Eight exclaimed. 

“You looked so peaceful sleeping, I didn’t want to wake you,” Cap’n said. “You need all the rest you can get, after all.”

He wasn't wrong. She had been really tired last night. She felt very well rested, so she figured it wasn’t a bad thing. She pulled on her ink tank and checked the CQ-80. She’d discovered line E last night, so she tackled it. 

Bodacious Rotation station was disorienting, but it wasn’t as bad as Cubular station. In fact, each of the stations were rather easy, even if some took quite some time to complete. She even went back to a few of them to complete them with different weapons. 

The mem cakes were subweapons and weapons. _She could remember areas with toxic mist generators hiding behind corners to surprise the enemy. She also remembers loving to use autobombs. If you didn’t see them coming, it was over for you. Curling bombs, she could use to move quickly and escape from danger. Suction bombs were great to direct enemy movement to force them to go where you wanted them to be. Burst bombs could be used as quick kill if the enemy had already been hit. A well placed splat bomb could do the same thing as a suction bomb, though it didn’t stick to walls._

Everything went well until the 8-Ball station. Inkfurlers and 8-Balls did not mix. At all. Every time she saw the 8-Ball fall from the edge, she closed her eyes in dread and anticipation. The explosion made her ears ring as she respawned. She shook herself off and restarted. It took her three attempts to get it right. Her reward was a splat roller mem cake.

_She remembers being young and someone handing her a roller that was bigger than her. It looked hard to lift, but it really wasn’t heavy. Even at 8 years old, she could still carry it just fine. She played the stealth game, hiding in her ink until someone came close enough to be splatted. It was really satisfying._

She hoped that the next station wouldn’t be as bad. It wasn’t, but she missed a few jumps, which made her restart. She managed it without having to repay the fee though. 

The mem cake was a splattershot. _The easiest weapon to use. The inkling version of the octoshot. She’d never used it, but she’d seen it in a war museum._

After giving the mem cake away and getting a reward from Iso Padre, she headed for the thang. 

[Here lies the surrounding thang… Bust & Run Station]

She rolled the thang back into the train, the cheery tune playing once again. The Cap’n danced and Eight joined. Before long, they were at the central station. 

When they arrived, the phone started talking. Eight got ready for more bullshit.

“Mad props, my dogg! You have found the third thang! There is just one more to find. The promised land awaits. Do not [SLANG_NOT_FOUND] yourself.”

Ok, that actually hadn’t been so bad.

Cap’n Cuttlefish sighed. “Wonder why we haven’t found Agent 3 yet.”

“Maybe you should put up a “Missing Agent” poster,” Eight suggested.

“Good idea!” he exclaimed. He pulled a notepad from his bag. “Gimme a second…”

More than a few seconds passed. “What did Agent 3 look like again?”

Eight’s jaw dropped open. “Are you serious? You’re asking me?”

“Try to remember,” Cap’n said, waving his pencil around. “It might jog your memory.”

She closed her eyes. “She has long tentacles,” she managed after a few moments. “Her skin is paler than mine. Her eyes are purple.” Those eyes had been filled with hatred. Determination. She was scared of them.

“Good job, kiddo,” the Cap’n smiled. “We’ll get that memory of yours back, mark my words.” He put a hand on her shoulder and smiled. 

She smiled. She knew he was telling the truth. She could trust him. 

C:≡ くコ:彡 C:≡

After a long day of work, Nella and Adeline went their separate ways. It was Nella’s turn to go down in the tunnels. 

Once again, Nella took off their work uniform before grabbing the flashlight. Leanne took her Heroshot. She might not have her ink tank, but it could still be used for intimidation.

Violence was not always the answer. The answer was always the threat of violence.

When the coast was clear, the two jumped the turnstiles. They made their way back to where they’d seen the train the other day. They listened and walked, neither really being in the mood to talk. 

After taking turns they’d never taken before and marking their route, they eventually found a stationary train. Nella passed the flashlight over it. 

“This one’s been down here for awhile. Look at all the dust on it.”

Leanne touched it out of curiosity. There was a good centimeter of dust on the train. She wiped the dust on her pants. 

“There’s light over there,” Nella said, pointing her chin ahead. “Let’s go check it out.”

They walked to it and ended up in a massive circular room. At regular intervals, a tunnel showed an unused train. The light came from what seemed to be an ink shield far, far above. 

A loud noise echoed through the room. Nella and Leanne crouched and closed their flashlight. 

Footsteps echoed above. Someone was walking up there. After a few moments, shots sounded and the ink shield exploded with pink ink. A cheery tune played, though the echo made it sound distorted and ominous. 

There were footsteps again, fading into the distance. 

Soon enough, silence fell. 

“That must've been someone on the secret trains,” Nella said. 

Leanne shrugged. “Probably. We should figure out a way up there,” she said. “I’d say we could ink that wall since it looks inkable, but I don’t know how we’d do it. I might have a weapon, but we won’t get far without an ink tank.”

A song started playing and Leanne jumped. Nella stiffened, then reached into their back pocket and pulled out a phone. 

“You have service down here?” Leanne muttered. 

Nella either didn’t hear or ignored her. “What’s up Ade?”

“Be careful, whatever you do,” she sounded panicked. 

“Wh-”

“Just listen, Nella. I don’t have much time. There’s people in the house. They’re looking for me and it’s only a matter of time before they break down the bathroom door. I think they want my study on desanitization. Or they know Leanne is here. It doesn’t matter. This place isn’t safe anymore. Please, go get my research. You know where it is. Get it and get back in the tunnels. Get it to the surface, to people who can use it and save our people. Find a way to the surface without me. You’re the best friend I’ve ever had. Thank you for everything. Take care of yourself.”

A loud bang resounded in the background and some screams filled their ears. The phone was shut off and Nella looked stunned. 

“What happened?” Leanne asked. “What’s wrong?”

“I have to go back,” Nella said. “They have Adeline.”

“You can’t go back, it’s too dangerous!” She grabbed Nella’s elbows because their shoulders were out of reach. “They might be after you. Too.”

Nella shook her head, putting one of her hands on Leanne’s arm. “I have to go back. They’re after her because of her work. She hid it where they can’t find it, but I have to go get it. It’s the only way to save those that were sanitized.”

Leanne couldn’t argue with that. She still didn’t quite understand the whole sanitization thing, but from what she understood, it wasn’t something that happened voluntarily. People were forced into it. 

“I’m coming with you,” she said.

“No. Absolutely not,” Nella replied. “You’d slow me down. I’ll be in and out. I’m grabbing those papers and getting right back out. I’ll be back in three hours.”

“Be careful.”

“I will be.”

Leanne watched as Nella ran back into the tunnel. The sound of their footsteps faded.

She sighed and sat down. All she could do was wait, worry and hope.


	6. On the Run

Nella ran as fast as their legs could carry them. They knew the way back without having to look at the chalk marks. In record time, they ran to the station and slowed down just enough to jump over the turnstiles before continuing to run. 

They were glad the streets were a ghost town at this hour and made a beeline for their building. They took the back entrance and climbed through what had once been the fire exit. 

Carefully, they entered their floor and looked around. There was no one in sight. At their door, they took a moment to listen inside to make sure there was no one. They opened the door by a smidge to see that the place had been thrashed. 

They got in and quietly closed the door behind them. No one was here. They went to the bedroom. They quickly mourned their destroyed turntables, but those things had been pieces of shit anyway. While the mattress had been flipped and the blankets thrown across the room, they hadn’t looked inside the mattress. 

They looked for the slit that they’d originally cut into the mattress and found it, pulling out a wad of papers. It was all there. They sighed and found a plastic pocket to put them in before shoving the papers inside of a backpack. They also looked around the apartment and shoved as many things as could fit into the bag. They took food and pictures before stopping in front of the closet. 

There was an ink tank in there. They’d completely forgotten about it up until now. They grabbed it and slung it over one shoulder. They went to the bathroom to grab Leanne’s clothes. They grabbed some extra stuff before putting the bag on their other shoulder. 

They left the apartment, carefully closing the door behind them. They made it three steps down the hall before someone’s door opened. They turned to see Odalys and Naida, their neighbours.

“They took Adeline,” Odalys said quietly, her voice barely audible.

“I know,” Nella replied, keeping their voice low as well. “She called me right before they took her.”

“She’ll probably be sanitized,” Naida muttered.

Nella nodded. “I have to go,” she said. “They might be after me, too.”

“Come in a second,” Odalys said, opening the door wider.

Nella trusted them. She went in, but stayed near the door. 

Odalys had a screwdriver. “Give me your CQ-80. I’ll remove the GPS chip so they can’t track you with it.” 

Nella handed her their CQ-80. Odalys messed with it for a few moments before handing it back. 

“Take mine, too,” Odalys said. “I don’t know who that third person whose been staying with you is, but they’re going to need one too. The GPS chip is already out on this one. I’m off for three days, so I’ll report it lost then.”

Nella took them both. “I can’t thank you enough. Thank you.”

Naida smiled and hugged them. “It’s the least we can do. You take care of yourself. You get out of here.”

“I’ll come back for you,” Nella promised, hugging Naida back. 

“Just stay safe,” Naida replied. 

Nella hugged Odalys too.

“I was never here,” Nella told the two before they left.

“I swear officer, I didn’t know they lived next door,” Odalys replied in a mocking voice.

Nella grinned, thanking the two once again. 

They left the building the way they came and ran back to where they’d left Leanne. 

くコ:彡 C:≡ くコ:彡

Leanne waited, her hearts beating fast. She hoped Nella was alright. She hadn’t known them for long, but she wanted them to be safe. To pass the time, she paced. She didn’t know how much time passed before she saw a light behind the metro they’d initially come from. 

“Leanne!” she heard. “Are you still here?”

“I haven’t moved!” she shouted back. 

Before long she could see Nella run toward her. 

“I put everything I could into this thing and I found this,” Nella passed an ink tank to Leanne. “I also got your clothes.” They dug through the bag and handed them over. 

Leanne took them before taking off the sweater she’d been wearing and replacing it with her agent vest. She put her headset on and put the ink tank on her back, connecting it to her ink gill. She took the heroshot at her waist and fired a few test shots. The tank seemed to be working just fine. As a final touch, she wrapped the cape around her neck.

“Now we just need to get up there,” she said. “Can you synch with my ink colour?” If she couldn’t they were fucked, but she didn’t want to say it out loud and risk jinxing herself.

“I’ve never done it with an Inkling, but I can try,” Nella replied, stepping closer and wrapping on of their tentacles around Leanne’s. Leanne aws startled. Octolings could move their tentacles? Without having ot move it with their hands? Holy shit. Sure, she’d seen the tentacles move a little, but she hadn’t expected that. At all. 

Leanne watched as the pink part of Nella’s tentacles turned orange. “Ok, let’s get going,” Nella declared. “Ink the way!”

Leanne nodded as she inked the ground and swam to the wall, Nella close behind. It was painstaking and slow, since she could only ink a small part of the wall before having to submerge back in the ink or risk falling. Almost an hour passed before they finally reached the top. 

Nella pointed at the dark tunnel with their flashlight. They followed it and saw a train station. They pulled out an odd looking phone-thing from her pocket. A screen appeared from it. 

“We’ve finally found it. These are the ten lines,” Nella said. “We’re here. I’m guessing we should make it here.” They pointed to the middle of the system. “That’s probably how we get to the surface.”

“Can you call one of the trains?” Leanne asked. 

Nella fiddled with the machine. “Nope. Looks like we’ll have to walk there. Better get going. Also looks like there’s actually only one train? That’s weird.”

They started walking, but Leanne grabbed their sleeve. “We need to rest.”

Nella whirled around, but Leanne just shook her head. “It’s what? 6 in the morning? We can’t wander into these tunnels tired as we are.”

Nella sighed. “You’re right.”

They sat and leaned against one of the walls. They quickly fell asleep. 

くコ:彡 C:≡ くコ:彡

Even after collecting the third thang, Eight wasn’t tired. She looked at the map, trying to figure out where the fourth might be. She hadn’t discovered the line it was on, but she had a vague idea of where it might be, considering which lines she had and hadn’t discovered. 

“You shouldn’t do too many tests,” Pearl said over the walkie-talkie. “You might have woken up late, but you don’t wanna overexert yourself, either.”

“I’ll just do one or two,” she assured her. “It’ll take awhile to just get to the stations from here, anyway.”

“Alright. Marina’s sleeping by the way, so it’s just me and the Cap’n.”

Eight nodded before selecting a station. It was pretty far away, so she took a seat and looked out the window while she waited. Eventually, she arrived at line I, which she’d discovered after getting the third thang.

[Don’t stress your luck… No Whammy Station. ⇒ Defend the orb!]

Eight was worried when she saw she wasn’t allowed a weapon. Those stations usually meant nothing good. Dread filled her as she stepped through the equipper. She super jumped to a platform and saw a canon. She grinned as the dread left her. Oh, this was going to be fun. 

The orb was easy to defend. While the canon shots were slower, this felt like an E-Liter. She completed it on her first try, and cheered along with Pearl. 

She didn’t look at the mem cake until she was back in the train. She paused. 

_“It’s an amazing honour to meet him,” a male voice said. “I can’t believe both of my daughters have been recognised by him. I’ve cleaned up your armour to make sure you’re presentable.”_

_She laughed. “Thanks dad. I never thought I’d make it either. When I come home next, I’ll officially be an Elite Soldier!”_

_The man pat her head._

_“Daaaad, I’m not a baby!”_

_“Maybe, but you’ll always be my baby, Elite soldier or not. Now, go on. You don’t want to be late on your big day.”_

_“Yeah, I don’t wanna make a bad first impression. I’ll see you tonight!”_

_She grabbed her weapon and ink tank before leaving the house. She knew her father was looking at her leave in the doorway, so she turned and waved before turning the corner and disappearing from his view._

“Eight?”

She looked up. Why did the Captain look worried?

“Are you alright? You’re crying.”

She touched her cheek and felt that she was, indeed, crying. She wiped them away. 

“I think that’s going to be it for today,” he said. “What’s the mem cake this time?”

She handed it to him and his expression darkened. “No wonder,” he muttered under his breath, probably thinking she couldn’t hear him. 

“I was an Elite soldier,” she whispered, rubbing her arm and looking at the ground. “I was so excited to meet him.”

He put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “It’s alright. Now get some rest. You need it.”

She nodded, taking off her ink tank and curling up on the bench next to him. The Cap’n ran a soothing hand on her arm and she eventually fell asleep, dreaming fleeting dreams.

くコ:彡 C:≡ くコ:彡

Leanne woke up with Nella holding onto her. Their tentacles were wrapped around hers. They’d reverted back to their pink colour while they slept. Parts of them were glowing a little. She couldn't see Nella’s face, but she was sure it was peaceful. Regretfully, she pulled herself away, untangling herself from her.

She stood and started doing her usual morning stretches. She could let Nella rest for a few more minutes. Once she was done, she shook Nella awake. They groaned, but eventually got up. 

Nella dug through the bag and pulled out an entire cereal box. Leanne would question it, but she honestly didn’t feel like it. She had more things to worry about than this. They didn’t have bowls or utensils, so they just took some handfuls of cereal before moving on. 

Nella checked their device, which according to them, was an employee model CQ-80.

“Can they track you with it?” Leanne asked.

“No,” Nella answered. “I took the chip out as soon as I got it. If someone’s tracking it, they’ll find the chip in the apartment.”

“I’ve got one for you, too,” Nella said, handing another one to her. 

Leanne took it, looking it over. She didn’t ask where it came from. She probably didn’t want to know. She quickly figured out how it worked. 

“Looks like the easiest route is gonna be to pass through lines I, B and A,“ Nella declared after taking a quick look at the map. 

They set out in the direction of line I, which was the closest. It didn’t take long for them to see a problem. A massive, watertight gate blocked their way. 

“The lines must be underwater,” Nella said. “Well, that’s going to be a problem.”

“Not all of the lines can be underwater though. There’s gotta be maintenance tunnels that don’t appear on the map or something. Or maybe on another map?” Leanne suggested.

“That’s a good idea,” Nella agreed, fiddling with the buttons and options. “Oh, this looks about right,” they muttered after a few minutes. 

An overlay appeared over the map, showing other lines all over the place. “Maintenance tunnels. Looks like we’re standing right in front of one.”

Nella sweeped the tunnel and spotted a door. 

“Authorised personnel only.” It read. 

“We count as authorised, right?” Leanne joked as she walked over to the door. It was locked. Of course it was. Why wouldn’t it be? Having it be unlocked would be too easy.

Nella messed around with the device. There had to be a way to unlock it from here. 

Meanwhile, Leanne had shot the door and floor to see if they were inkable. They were. She slipped through the gap under the door and found herself on the other side. She used on the heroshot to orient herself and found a button on the door. She pressed it and the door creaked open. 

Nella jumped at the noise, then looked at Leanne. “I guess that works too.”

They closed the door behind them and followed the tunnels. It would probably take them a while, but they’d find their way out.

くコ:彡 C:≡ くコ:彡 

Eight woke up, yawned and stretched. She tucked one of her stray tentacles behind her ear. She slipped on her ink tank, attaching the tube to her ink gill. Doing it was muscle memory.

“Going to keep exploring line I?” The Cap’n asked. 

Eight nodded. “Gotta find that fourth thang.”

“Don’t overwork yourself,” he simply said. 

She selected the next station as Pearl and Marina dropped in.

Dinky Ink station sucked. If she made one wrong move, she ran out of ink and failed the test. On her last try before she had to repay the toll, she made it to the end. She just had to shoot the pole and she’d be free. 

She just had to fire one more shot. She ran out of ink. C.Q Cumber called out for a failed test and the bomb attached to her ink tank started to detonate. Eight screamed as her soul left her body and as her body respawned by the equipper. She screamed inside as she repaid the toll and redid the test. This time, she did it in one try. She let out another screech as she touched the pole and claimed both victory and her mem cake. 

She looked at it as she stepped back on the train. 

An inkling girl with black tentacles, wearing… hypnoshades?

_She made her way through the crowd, hopelessly looking for her sister. In an arena this full, it was impossible to find the blue and pink tentacles that were so familiar. With a sigh, she simply headed to her assigned seat, only to find that her sister was right next to her._

_The arena fell silent as the lights dimmed. DJ Octavio appeared, riding in the Octobot King._

_“What up Octo Valley?” His yell echoed as everyone, including herself, cheered._

_The biggest zapfish she’d ever seen swam near the Octobot King. He started his first set and the arena came to life, everyone going with the beat. When his set came to an end, a platform floated up with an Inkling tied and struggling on it._

_The screams of disgust and calls for murder deafened her ears. She screamed as well, the stitches on her arm aching._

_The spawn point activated and an inkling appeared. The Inkling known simply as “Agent 3” stepped forward as the tied up Inkling screamed something. The Inkling clearly ignored its elder and kept moving, shooting the ground._

_Of course, it didn’t realise it had walked right into a trap. The giant zapfish was absorbed into the Octobot King and the fight started._

_No one could look away. DJ Octavio used the Octobot King to its full potential, dishing attack after attack to the Inkling. It dodged nearly every attack, and those that it didn’t were shaken off as if nothing happened._

_The cheerful atmosphere in the stands became tense. Everyone was at the edge of their seat. No one dared to say anything as slowly but surely, the Inkling was pushing back DJ Octavio._

_“He can still do this”, she told herself. “He’s just lulling the Inkling into a false sense of security.” Yeah, that was it._

_Octavio would win. He had to._

_For the Octarian race._

Eight shook off the memories. This wasn’t the time. She had to get the fourth thang. This could come later. 

She selected the next station.

[Y’all bready for this? Toastmaster Station ⇒ Defeat the boss!]

She snorted at the title. Who came up with this? She wanted to give them a high-five. She just hoped that this boss would be easier than the last. 

She paused in awe for a moment. She was fighting a toaster. A fucking toaster. The Captain, Pearl and Marina made puns as she fought it. She couldn’t blame them. She toasted it one attempt. 

She grinned as she collected the mem cake.

An inkling girl with white tentacles wearing traditional clothes and holding an umbrella.


	7. Calamari Inkantation

Leanne and Nella walked the maintenance tunnels, using the map to orient themselves. There were a lot of stairs and winding paths. 

“What was your job in Octo Valley?” Leanne asked. She was curious, but she also wanted to get rid of the heavy silence. 

“I was a DJ,” Nella replied. “I made music. Mostly ambient stuff, but I wrote battle songs too. I once did a collab with DJ Octavio. He wanted my advice on a song. I was super honoured at the time.”

They stopped and dug into the backpack they’d been wearing. They pulled out a golden hairpin and held it up. “He gave me this. It’s a symbol of status. It’s even higher up than the Octoling soldiers with kelp on their heads. Someone with this was honoured by Octavio himself and was important.”

“I’m glad I never ran into a soldier with that,” Leanne replied.

“You did.” Nella answered. “You fought Ellie. She was part of Octavio’s platoon. You took out her entire team and she was the only one left. She was a sniper, but she grabbed the weapon of someone in her platoon. She shot your weapon out of your hands and you bit her. She had to get stitches. Her survival and quick thinking in that fight is what got her promoted.”

Leanne remembered that fight. She’d fought a ton of Octolings and there’d been a sniper at the end of the level, guarding the zapfish. That Octoling had put up one hell of a fight. She’d been scratched and bit and bled really bad. It was the first time she’d had to retreat while on a mission for the Splatoon. The Cap’n had taken her to the hospital because some of the wounds were too deep to fix up with a first aid kit. Explaining it to the hospital staff had been an adventure. She’d been off duty for a week after that. 

“I remember that fight,” Leanne said. “I ended up at the hospital after that.”

Nella nodded. “So did she.”

“Oh.” Leanne didn’t know what to reply. “I’m sorry,” she said. “At least you guys have spawn points too.” That was a silver lining. At least she hadn’t killed anyone. 

“Electricity is spotty in some places,” Nella said. “Sometimes, the spawn point can’t reach that far. Some people don’t make it home.”

Leanne stopped dead in her tracks. She opened and closed her mouth. She felt sick. She needed to sit. And hopefully not hurl. All this time, she’d thought she’d been just splatting them. She clamped her hand over her mouth to try to silence her sobs, but it wasn’t helping. 

She felt a hand on her back. “You were following orders. Just like those soldiers. You couldn’t have known.” It was Nella. Her voice was soothing. She pulled her into a hug. 

Nella had once hated Agent 3 with a burning passion. She’d made Ellie cry. She’d hurt Ellie. She’d taken zapfish. She’d hurt some of her friends. She’d killed good people. But Agent 3 had been a child. She’d been the same as Ellie when she became an Elite soldier. In what kind of world did the children do the fighting? In what kind of world did this happen? What kind of societies allowed this? 

She wasn’t angry at Leanne. She was mad at the world. She hugged her tightly and hummed a song she used to sing to Ellie when she was a baby. Leanne hugged her back and cried into her shirt. She rubbed her back and held her tightly. 

After a few minutes, Leanne rubbed her eyes. “How can I apologise for that?” 

“Forgive yourself. Accept that you didn’t know better, Learn from your mistakes. Move on.” Nella said, holding her shoulders. 

Leanne nodded. It would take time, but she would. Eventually. Maybe.

They kept walking. “How did you end up against Octavio?” she asked. 

“When you fought against Octavio 2 years ago, he was doing a concert. He invited everyone with a golden hairpin. We saw you fight him and cheered him on. Until we all realised he was fucked. And then that song started playing.”

“The Calamari Inkatation?”

“Yes. It changed all of us. It broke the brainwashing that had been ingrained into our souls. That song saved us. It turned us against Octavio. We couldn’t live the way we had anymore. We wanted the surface. We wanted freedom.”

_The Inkling shot another missile that hit Octavio._

_“How dare you?” he shouted. Every Octoling recoiled._

_The song that had been playing cut out as radio static was heard._

_“What’s this? Where mah beats?”_

_“Agent 3, can you hear our song?”_

_“Radio override, activated!”_

_The song changed and everyone froze. The Inkling cheered and kept fighting, seemingly reinvigorated. No one said anything._

_Then, at the same time, everyone got flashes of the surface. Of freedom. Of the Octavio’s lies._

_All at once, the Octolings got up and danced and cheered to the beat. They took off their Octoleets. For the first time, soldiers saw each other's eyes. It had been forbidden to ever take off your Octoleets outdoors, but now they could see each other’s faces. What they actually looked like._

_They watched as Octavio fought. No one was cheering for him anymore. They were just dancing to the music and enjoying the show. Once the song had started, everyone knew that Octavio was screwed._

_Nella looked over and saw Ellie dancing along, the same way she danced to her music when no one was watching. Her Octoleets were on her forehead. She was dancing without a care with a genuine smile on her face. They hugged Ellie and she laughed._

_They watched as Octavio lured the Inkling into a thin platform with not much space to maneuver. Nella heard someone cheering for Agent 3._

_She looked back to Ellie to see a boy patting her shoulder. They didn’t say anything, just watched the interaction._

_Ellie turned around._

_The boy smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his neck. “Hey Ellie.”_

_“Paishe? Oh my gosh, you’re here too?” She smiled really wide and her eyes lit up._

_“Yeah, I know someone who let me in, even if I don’t have the golden hairpin,” the boy replied. So this was the Paishe she’d talked about._

_“Your eyes are green,” Ellie said. Nella internally face-palmed. Young love was dumb. “They look really pretty.”_

_He smiled even wider, which Nella hadn’t thought was possible. “I wasn’t expecting your eyes to be red, but they look really nice. I bet they’ll match really well with black tentacles.”_

_Ellie’s face was tinted blue as she laughed. She was usually self-conscious about her laugh, but not today._

_The rules of OCtarian society didn’t matter right now. People were allowed to sing and dance. People could see each other’s eyes for the first time. They could enjoy themselves. They could have fun._

_Ellie grabbed Paishe’s hand and pulled him close. The two danced together._

_Nella whispered into Paishe’s ear when Ellie wasn’t paying attention. “If you break her heart, I will destroy you,” they declared._

_“If I break her heart, I will beg you to destroy me,” he replied._

_They laughed and clapped his back._

_Eventually, the Inkling pushed Octavio back to the end of the platform. There was nowhere else to go. There was one more volley with the missile and Octavio fell out of the Octobot King. The Inkling shot him. The giant Zapfish wriggled out of the machine. Somehow, the Inkling grabbed both Octavio and the Zapfish before superjumping away._

_Silence fell over the arena. No one said anything. You could hear a golden hairpin drop._

_Now what? Their king was gone. No one else would believe them. Only they had heard the song. No one else would understand the freedom they’d just felt._

_The arena doors opened and people filed out. They grabbed their Octoleets and put them back on._

_People were whispering among themselves._

_“Now what?”_  
“Octavio’s gone…”  
“This changes everything.”  
“There has to be a way to tell others.”  
“Did anyone get a recording?” 

_Nella pulled Ellie close. She didn’t want her to get lost in the crowd._

C:≡くコ:彡C:≡ 

“Hang on Agent 8, let me see those last mem cakes you got,” the Captain said as she was examining the two Inkling girls. 

She handed them to him. “These sure look like my granddaughters,” he said. “Do these mean you’ve met them?”

“I’ve heard them,” she replied. “The Calamari Inkatation. I was there when Agent 3 fought Octavio. The Squid Sisters were singing.”

The old man nodded. “That song has strange powers. Even before my granddaughters revamped it.”

“I’ve only ever heard the Squid Sisters version,” Marina said. “There’s another?”

“Yes. Hang on, I might have it on this thing.” He rummaged through his phone before eventually making an “ah-ha!” noise. “Here it is.”

She heard chatter and an odd sound. They were drowned out by a drum. It beat, then other instruments joined in. She couldn’t name any of them, but that didn’t matter. People started singing, then more. Then children. It felt like the entire world was singing. 

“The chorus of Calamari County, a song that all Inklings know by heart,” he said once the song had finished. “The Squid Sisters revamped it and it jump started their career. This was a recording from when we used to sing it around a campfire when they were little.”

Eight nodded. She might not remember much of anything, but she did know that she’d never sung around a campfire. She wondered what it was like. She hoped she got to do it one day.

Shaking off those thoughts, she selected the next station. None of those remaining on line E were much of a challenge. Once it was done, she moved on to line D. 

Radical Rails station wasn’t so bad, though it did take her a few attempts. She thought this line wouldn’t be so bad. 

Then she got to Targetbuster Station. She hated it. She wasn’t good with ink brushes to begin with, let alone having a time limit. She felt like there was no room for error. One fuck up and it was over. After enough attempts, the path and movements required were in her muscle memory. With less than a second to spare, she beat it. She cheered and jumped for joy back at the equipper. She didn’t really care about the mem cake. 

She looked at the next test. Girl Power Station. It was another protect the orb mission. The other one had been a walk in the park, so maybe this one would be too. She chose splat bombs and jumped in. 

“Looks like they’re waiting for you,” Pearl said. 

Eight saw the row of OCtolings on the wall, waiting. She also saw the choice of weapons offered to her. Looking at the arena ahead, she could also see that every special was at her disposal. This was going to be something. 

After hesitating between the splatterscope and the splatling, she settled on the splatterscope. It was the weapon that felt the most familiar in her hands. She took the launchpad. Quickly, she grabbed splashdown and made her way around the boxes, where one Octoling was already trying to destroy them. So long as she could keep the boxes intact, she could slow them down. She shot one down and the superjump markers appeared. She threw a splatbomb at the markers and stood on a box, waiting and grabbing some armour. The bomb exploded right as they jumped, splatting both of them. 

“Nice one!” Marina cheered. 

Eight moved on, ready for the next spawn ins. She missed her first shot, but her second was a direct hit. The inkbrush was trying to get through some boxes. She jumped down from her perch and shot her point-blank. 

She was doing pretty well. Then everything went to shit. She went across to get the Elite Octoling with a blaster, only to hear the alarm noise of the orb being damaged. She quickly splatted the blaster and swam over to the orb, smashing boxes as she went. A slosher was attacking it. She aimed for it, but it sidestepped the shot, aiming for her. She hid behind a wall and shot from behind. She splatted her, then fired a few shots at the orb. 

“More baddies jumping in!” Pearl warned. 

Suddenly, someone was in the air with an Inkjet. Someone else was firing a stingray at the orb. Panicking, she used her splashdown but didn’t splat anyone. The orb exploded. Well shit.

She respawned and grabbed the splatterscope again. She could do this. It was just like any other test. She just had to learn the pattern. 

Three hours later, she returned to the subway, frustrated. She wanted to scream. Or kick something. Preferably both. 

“Do you want me to hack the system?” Marina asked. It wasn’t the first time she’d asked. 

“NO!” she screamed. She hadn’t meant to. “I have to be good enough! I have to do this myself! I have to prove myself! So I can be good enough to make it to the Promised Land!”

Cap’n Cuttlefish looked at her, stunned.

She clenches her fists, so tightly that her claws went through the skin and her palms bled. “Once I’m up there, I’ll be all alone. I have to be good enough.” She felt tears welling up and angrily wiped them away.

“You won’t be alone!” Pearl’s voice was loud in the walkie-talkie. 

“You’ll have us!” Marina added. “You can stay with us! We’ll show around! We won’t abandon you!”

Cap’n clapped his hand on her back. “I’m not abandoning you, kiddo. You’ll find a family in the Squidbeak Splatoon.”

“I went to the square the other day and there were other Octolings around!” Marina said. “You’ll fit right in!”

“Even if you don’t remember much, you can always remake yourself in Inkopolis!” Pearl said. 

“Even if I don’t remember my name?” Eight asked, her voice tiny and shaking.

“You can choose your own name,” Pearl said. “Sometimes, the name your parents gave you just isn’t the right one for you and that’s ok.”

Eight started crying and Cap’n pulled her into a hug. “I consider you another granddaughter,” he said, rubbing her back. “Once we’re on the surface, I’ll adopt you.”

Pearl and Marina kept encouraging her as she cried in the old man’s arms. “Everything will be ok,” he said. “It’s okay. You’re alright. Don’t push yourself.”

Eventually, her tears dried. She wiped them away.

“Do you feel better?” Pearl asked.

Eight nodded. “Yeah, thanks. I’ll give that station another shot. Then you can take over, Marina.”

“Alright, good luck!”

Eight chose the splatterscope and the splat bombs. The Cap’n, Pearl and Marina spoke to her every step of the way, keeping her informed of who was coming where. She’d already committed the pattern to memory, but the encouragement helped. 

With 15 seconds left on the clock, she paused. It was quiet. The only thing she could hear was the music that always played. 

“Did I do it?” she asked, stunned. 

“No one else is spawning in…” Marina muttered. 

“I think you did,” Pearl added. 

Eight lowered her splatterscope and jumped. She didn’t care how silly she looked, she was so fucking happy. She danced around for the remaining seconds.

“I’m proud of you kiddo!” the Captain cheered. 

She didn’t even care about the mem cake. The accomplishment itself was enough. Even Iso Padre congratulated her. 

She came down from her high and realised just how tired she was. She yawned and rubbed her eyes. 

“Get some rest, you deserve it,” the Captain said. 

She couldn’t argue with that. She took off her ink tank and settled on the subway bench. The Captain passed a soothing hand through her tentacles and hummed something. She fell asleep quickly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The version of the song the calamari Inkantation that the Cap'n played for Eight is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXPT-F_njPs


	8. (Un)Welcome Memories

Leanne and Nella had no way to tell the time. It felt like they’d been wandering the maintenance tunnels for hours. Which, to be fair, they probably had. 

Nella found their mind wandering. How was Ellie doing? Was she safe? Had she made it to the surface? Was she still in her platoon, thinking of ways to escape to the surface? She hoped that she wasn’t stuck down here too. She also worried about Adeline. Why had she been taken? Had it been because of Leanne? Or because of her research on de-sanitisation? What would the Kamabo Corporation do to her? Adeline might’ve told her to abandon her and go to the surface, but like hell she would. Adeline was the reason she had free will again. She was the reason she could be here now. She wouldn’t abandon her. 

Leanne’s mind wandered too. She hoped the Captain was alright. Though to be fair, he might be ancient, but he could defend himself. So long as he had his cane/bamboozler, he could kick ass. He was a better fighter than she was, but he wasn’t as mobile as he used to be, in his own words. She also wondered how her cousins were doing. Lissa and Lily could take care of themselves. Lissa had a job and Lily was good at turf wars. They’d be able to pay the rent just fine. She groaned at the thought of rent. She’d paid her landlord for three months of it before she left. She hoped she got back before that. Sure, she shared the apartment with her cousins, but she didn’t want to to get evicted, either. She was a responsible adult now, after all. 

A responsible adult who was lost as all hell because she’d picked a fight an Octoling, but circumstances were a bitch. 

They went up and down a ton of stairs and escalators. They also walked down seemingly endless tunnels. There were lights on the ceiling, but they could barely be described as such. They were more the idea of light than actual lights. 

Leanne talked about her family. Her parents were still in the countryside, though they sent food once in awhile. In return, Nella spoke about theirs as well. Her father was a stay-at-home dad, like practically every male Octoling, while her mother worked for the government.

Eventually, the map showed they’d reached an intersection between two lines. They were getting there. 

“Are you tired?” Leanne asked. 

“Nah,” Nella replied. “We can keep going.”

And so they did. They eventually reached another gate. It unlocked when they got close. When they moved to open it, a gate fell from above and locked them in. 

“Shit,” Leanne muttered as she pulled out her weapon and waited. 

The door opened, blinding them because of the light on the other side. With nowhere else to go, they stepped through and they found themselves in a reverse aquarium. Accordion stairs stretched far above them as far as they could see. The light was coming from the water. Something in it was glowing. In the distance, they could see moving lights and rails. The train. 

The only way to go was up, so they started climbing the stairs. 

It took three hours to get to the top. “I never want to see stairs again,” Nella said as they reached a gate similar to the one they’d seen at the bottom of the stairs.

Once they were through, they were back in the dark tunnels. 

“Looks like we’re in a completely different part of the facility now,” Nella said, looking at the map. It still showed the maintenance tunnels, but the train lines had disappeared. However, when they zoomed out, they could see they weren’t far. It was possible for them to get back to the train system. They just had to figure out the map. It looked like a maze. 

After passing a few doors, they found themselves on walkways above what looked to be a medical facility. 

Nella shut off her lamp and put it around their belt. Quietly, they reached for something in the backpack, tucked it into their pants, then put their shirt over it. Leanne had her weapon in hand, ready to shoot. They stayed close.

The metal grates underneath their feet made their steps reverberate through the walls. There were people working below, but no one looked up. 

They didn’t dare say anything. Should anyone look up, they’d be screwed. The walkways ended and they opened a heavy metal door. 

Leanne felt like she was in a hospital because of the white walls and the strong smell of sanitizer. They heard footsteps that weren’t theirs. Thinking quickly, Nella pulled them into another door, that turned out to be a closet.

They were practically on top of each other. They didn’t dare breathe until the footsteps were gone. Nella looked outside to make sure no one was there. They motioned for Leanne to follow them out. They walked in silence, keeping an ear out for anyone else. 

The only thing they could hear was the hum of distant machines. 

They followed Nella’s map. This route would take them out of this place and back into the maintenance tunnels of the train system. Once again, they found themselves on overhead walkways. 

There were Octolings below, simply standing and starting at the walls. There was a conveyor belt in the middle of the room that lead to a flooder of sickly looking green ink that even from this far away, smelled like sanitizer.

Nella clamped a hand over their mouth. 

_They struggled to break free of their bonds, to no avail. Someone had shoved a needle in their ink gill and no matter what they did, they couldn’t seem to shake it off. It burnt and hurt and they wanted it out out out._

_They blinked and felt blood instead of tears. They coughed and tasted blood. Their hearts were going three thousand miles per hour. They felt like they were going to die._

_They were picked from the ground and dragged. They tried to break free, but their strength was failing them. They couldn’t move._

_They were thrown onto a conveyor belt by uncaring hands. All they could hear was the sound of a waterfall and her hearts in their head. Their vision was blurring, but they saw something green up ahead._

_They closed their eyes._

_They didn’t want to die._

くコ:彡C:≡ くコ:彡

Eight found that the rest of the line wasn’t that difficult. Her next challenge was fighting a shower drain while using the Inkjet. She didn’t even question the bosses down here anymore. She didn’t want to. Pearl, Marina and the Captain seconded her when she said that. 

Once she cleared the station, she discovered the last line. Not only did it have a thang on it, but she was also right next to it. 

She hesitated. She wanted to do every station. To leave this place behind without any regrets and with as much of her memory as possible. 

To her surprise, the others were supportive. 

She moved and finished the lines. None of the stations were much of a challenge. Sure, some took a few attempts, but after girl Power Station, nothing could discourage her. 

While she was doing the tests, Pearl, Marina and the Captain talked. Pearl discovered that Marina had been part of Octavio’s army and making weapons. Pearl didn’t care. It didn’t change anything. Marina was Marina. It didn’t matter who she’d been before. It was best to let sleeping dogs lie. Eight was pretty sure that she’d heard Marina cry, but didn’t mention it.

When night fell, the three encouraged Eight to sleep. She could finish this tomorrow. 

Eight did just that. 

She dreamt that night. 

_She was sat at a table in a plaza, waiting. Around her, there were Octolings going about their day. It was around lunch, so many were on break. It was odd to not see anyone wearing armour. She hadn’t been in a civilian area in a long time. She wasn’t wearing anything special, though she did have the golden hairpin in her tentacles. Of course, she also had her shades that everyone was supposed to wear._

_Some people would stop and stare at the pin before quickly looking away when they saw that she’d seen them. They were probably wondering what someone like her was doing in a place like this._

_“Ellie!” she heard a shout from across the plaza. She raised her hand._

_“Hey Paishe!”_

_He jogged over to her table and sat across from her. “Sorry I’m late,” he said. “The kettle closest to my house broke down last night so I had to take the long way here.”_

_“It’s not a problem,” she replied. “Kettles have been going in and out lately, it’s not your fault.”_

_Paishe nodded. “How has work been lately?”_

_“Not much. Ever since Octavio’s been kidnapped the army’s been in a standstill. There’s word of trying to get him back, but no one’s got any idea where he is or if he’s even alive. I’ve mostly just been on guard duty. We don’t want to lose the few zapfish we still have. What about you?”_

_“The salmonids are still coming,” he replied. “Though I think I’m going to get pulled from the shore soon. They don’t want me getting hurt. Well, they just don’t anything to happen to my tentacles. We lost so many soldiers to that Inkling, they don’t want to lose potential cuttings.”_

_“Well, you were going to get pulled sooner or later,” Ellie sighed. “It sucks it’s this early though.”_

_“Yeah, I’m just 16. I’ve still got three more years of being a soldier,” he sighed back. “Not that I really want to.”_

_Ellie nodded. “I keep catching myself humming the song,” she whispered. “I’ve heard word of old kettles that lead to the top of Octo Canyon. From there it’s apparently possible to reach the surface.”_

_Paishe got closer. “I’ve heard of someplace to the south, near the abandoned district. Rumour has it there’s a way to the surface from there. We should go check it out sometime. That place isn’t guarded, just fenced off. If we shift we should be able to get through.”_

_“If we’re caught we’re as good as dead,” she replied, taking his hand._

_“Would you rather be trapped down here forever? In a city that’s crumbling? In a society that controls us from birth to death?”_

_“We go in the middle of the night,” Ellie said. “I don’t want to stay down here either, but we have to be smart about it. Getting to the surface won’t do us much good if we end up dead in a ditch.”_

_“That’s true,” Paishe said. “Anyway, how’s the family?”_

_“Everyone’s fine,” Ellie replied, raising her voice above a whisper. “Nella’s been working overtime since Octavio went missing. Mom and dad are fine though. I might get a little sibling, but we don’t know yet.”_

_“That’s good to know,” Paishe replied. “I might get a younger sibling too. Adeline’s been working her ass off at the hospital. There’s a shortage of doctors, so she’s juggling between that and working on her project for her thesis.”_

_Ellie nodded._

_“By the way, my parents are insisting you come over sometime,” Paishe said. “They want to meet you.”_

_Ellie’s cheeks turned blue. “I’ll have to check my schedule,” she said, “but I’d love to.”_

_Paishe smiled. “Tell me when you can, I’ll tell my brother.”_

Eight woke up. That… that hadn’t been a dream. It had felt more like a memory. No, it had been a memory. She got up and saw that no one else was awake. Quietly, she reached for the old man’s phone and looked at the contacts. She selected Marina. 

Agent 8: Marina are you awake?

She waited for an answer, not really expecting one.

DJ_HyperFresh: I am, is everything ok? Did you take the captain’s phone?

Agent 8: yeah, i hope he doesn’t mind  
Agent 8: i need you to do something for me  
Agent 8: i know I was an elite soldier, would you be able to access my file?

DJ_HyperFresh: if I knew your name I would be able to, yes. I can still hack into the system

Agent 8: It’s Ellie.  
Agent 8: My name, I mean. I remembered. 

DJ_HyperFresh: oh! That’s really good to know Ellie! Did you remember your surname?

Agent 8: no. Is that not enough?

DJ_HyperFresh: It’s fine, it’ll just take a little bit. Give me about an hour and I’ll get back to you.

Ellie laid down and stared at the ceiling. The movement of the train almost lulled her back to sleep, but her curiousity kept her awake. 

Eventually, the phone pinged and she looked at it. 

DJ_HyperFresh: I found your file! Ellie is a pretty common name, but this is you! Take a look. 

There was a picture of her wearing shades and a golden hairpin. 

_Name: Élianne "Ellie" Dee_

_Gen 86- Octoling Combat & Sniping Specialist_

_CLASSIFIED_

_Age 5: Enrolled in the elementary training program at the Slimeskin Garrison._  
Age 8: Enrolled in combat training after showing unusual combat abilities during a play match in recess.  
Age 10: Shows extreme proficiency with all kinds of weapons, specifically scope-type weapons.  
Age 12: Graduated. Joined Tentakeel Outpost.  
Age 13: Gained full control of her Octoling form (unusual). Assigned to the Huitre Outpost as sniper to fight against the Salmonid menace.  
Age 15: Assigned her own unit in fights against the Salmonids. Received multiple commendations. Promoted to Elite Octoling (Kelp). Assigned to DJ Octavio’s personal protection unit. Promoted to Elite Octoling (Gold) after a fierce fight with Agent 3.  
Age 17: Currently M.I.A. and believed dead. Was last seen leaving her home while heading to work. 

Reading about her life was weird. She should know about these things. She’d been a sniper, which explained why those weapons were so comfortable and natural in her hands. 

DJ_HyperFresh: You have a sister, by the way. Her name is Nella and she’s a DJ. Oh, wait. She’s DedF1sh! Her songs are playing during your tests!

Agent 8: Really? That’s cool. I hope she’s ok. 

DJ_HyperFresh: Her file say she’s AWOL. :(

AGENT_8: Damn.

DJ_HyperFresh: Do you wanna talk for awhile? I can tell you a bit about the Slimeskin Garrison, I went to school there too.  
Also I think I might’ve heard about you? I’m not sure.

Agent 8: Sure! I’m gonna have trouble sleeping, anyway.

くコ:彡C:≡ くコ:彡

Leanne heard a sob and whirled around. Nella was crying. She looked around and below. Someone might hear. Leanne knew what a panic attack looked like. She swore. She knelt down and grabbed them. This wasn’t the place or the time to be having a panic attack, but panic attacks were like that. 

It was awkward because Nella was a good foot and half taller than Leanne, but she managed to lead them to the next door and pulled them into the first room she saw. Thankfully, there was no one inside.

“What’s wrong?” Leanne asked. “Do you need me to do anything?”

Nella shook their head. 

“Is it ok if I give you a hug?” Leanne asked. 

Nella nodded, so Leanne pulled them into a hug. “I won’t let anything happen to you,” she said. “You’re fine.” She rubbed Nella’s back. 

After a few minutes, Nella pulled themself away and wiped away the remaining tears. “This is where I got sanitized,” they explained. “Let’s just get out of here as soon as possible.”

Leanne nodded. “Agreed. This place gives me the creeps.”

They took another look at the map for the most direct route out. The direction they’d come from was blocked off, so they couldn’t turn around. They found a route that looked like it might work, so long as they didn’t get caught by guards. 

They made their way through pure white corridors, occasionally ducking into side rooms. They tried not to look at what was inside the rooms, but sometimes curiosity got the better of them. 

One room was filled with vats upon vats of that sickly green liquid they’d been seeing everywhere. 

“There’s something inside,” Leanne muttered, grossed out. 

“It’s Octarians,” Nella said, looking closer. “This must be how they sanitize the smaller ones.”

Leanne wandered over to a computer. It had been left open. She was fluent enough in Octonese to be able to read the documents. 

“Can your CQ-80 store information?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Nella replied. “Also grabbed some memory sticks. Why?”

“This stuff might be useful,” Leanne said. “It looks like files of the people who’ve been sanitized. Maybe we’ll be able to see if your sister and Adeline’s brother are part of it.”

Nella walked over and looked over Leanne’s shoulder. “There’s just ID numbers, no actual names though. Are there pictures in the files?”

Leanne clicked the first one on the list, opening the file. There was indeed a picture.

“Oh, fuck,” they both exclaimed as one. 

It was Adeline. They’d sanitized Adeline. 

“How long does it take?” Leanne asked. “Maybe we can still save her.” 

Nella shook her head. “It takes a few hours. They probably got whatever information they wanted out of her then sanitized her.”

“Why not just kill her?”

“Sanitization gets rid of the self. The result is a blank slate who just takes orders. No point in killing you when they can turn you into whatever they want,” Nella explained. “In my case, it was a DJ. Her? Probably gonna turn her into a soldier or worker. Probably already did.”

Nella plugged a memory stick into the computer. They downloaded as much information as they could. There were more than just sanitization records. There were also records for most of the facilities. Also a log of orders from one “Commander Tartar”. They kept an eye on the door as they skimmed through documents. 

Eventually, they found a file titled “DeepSea Metro”. It showed maps of the area, the names of stations and a subfolder titled “subjects”. There were thousands upon thousands of documents. 10 008, to be specific. Curious, they opened the most recent one. 

“No!” Nella shouted. “That’s Ellie!”

She quickly looked through the file. 

_Subject number: 10 008_

_Subject has shown extreme adaptability and combat proficiency. Completed tests with relative ease save for a few exceptions (See D07 and J03/D08)_

_Thangs collected: 3/4_

_Status: TESTING_

“Well, at least she’s still alive,” Leanne said. 

They looked through other files to compare them to Ellie’s. The status was either “SANITIZED” or “BLENDED”. They didn’t want to know what the second meant. Nothing good, that was for certain. 

They downloaded as much information that could fit onto the memory sticks and moved on. They might as well get as much information about this place as they could while they were down here. They heard footsteps coming towards the room they were in. 

They looked around and hid behind one of the massive vats. It wasn’t that great of a hiding spot, but it would have to do. They didn’t dare lean to the side to see who was there. They didn’t even dare breathe. 

They heard someone typing at the computer. Then, the sound of machinery coming to life. They saw the vat next to them be drained. It was a smaller one than the one they were hiding behind, only big enough to fit an Octoling or a few small Octarians. 

An Octoling stood in the vat, a face mask strapped to her face. Nella slapped their hand over their mouth to avoid making a noise. Leanne was wide-eyed. 

Her tentacles were now sickly green and neon blue. Her work uniform was replaced by a white tunic. A hospital gown. There was an attachment for an IV drip on her wrist. Her skin was also green. Her once long tentacles had been cut short. They were now limp instead of full of life. 

There were two other Octolings in front of the vat. One of them hit a button and the walls of the vat came down, letting Adeline step forward. 

“What is your name?” One of the Octolings asked. 

“Z_45313 is my number,” Adeline said, her voice devoid of any emotion. “I have no name.”

“Good,” the first Octoling replied. “What do you feel?”

“Nothing.”

The Octoling nodded, writing something on her board. “You are now part of something greater than yourself. Give me your left wrist.”

Adeline did. The Octoling wrapped a bracelet around her wrist and removed the IV attachment. Then, the Octoling grabbed that wrist and led Adeline along, the same way a mother would grab their child as to not lose them in a crowd. 

“Come, Z_45313. Your new life begins now.”

They walked away and the door shut behind them. 

Leanne and Nella stayed behind the vat for a few minutes to make sure the coast was clear. 

“We can’t just leave her here!” Nella exclaimed quietly. 

“We’re not really equipped to fight an entire facility,” Leanne exclaimed back. “But you’re right. We can’t leave her here. She might have perfected the sanitization process, but she doesn’t deserve this.”

“She sure doesn’t,” Nella agreed. “But first we’ve gotta move. We can’t stay here. We’ll end up like her and then we won’t be able to help anyone.”

Leanne nodded, looking at the room to make no one was there. She didn’t want to think about what or who was in the vat they were hiding behind. 

“Let’s go,” she declared. 

くコ:彡C:≡ くコ:彡

Ellie woke up on the bench with the Captain’s phone in her hands. She rubbed her eyes and looked to see if Marina had sent her anymore messages after she’d fallen asleep. They’d talked a lot about childhood, though Marina had done most of the talking. 

She’d remembered a few things. She’d fought salmonids and collected golden eggs. She’d made friends with a male Octoling. 

Paishe. 

She looked at the messages and saw that Marina had found his file. 

It was similar to hers, even to the part of them both being M.I.A. They’d both heard the Calamari Inkantation. They’d been planning on leaving together and it was him who’d found out about the metro. He would go ahead and she would meet him there to avoid raising suspicions. One male vanishing was less cause for alarm than was two young soldiers. Unfortunately, she’d been sent away on a mission the day after he left, so she hadn’t been able to join him when they’d planned.

When she’d gotten back from that mission, she’d spent the night at her home before leaving for the abandoned district in the morning. Agent 3 had been there. Her memory was blurry after that. 

She got up and put the phone next to gramps before waking him up. 

“Good morning everyone!” Pearl exclaimed from the walkie-talkie. “Sleep well?”

Ellie yawned. Pearl laughed. “You can always rest up a little more, Eight. No one’ll blame you. Heck, Marina’s sleeping right now. She fell asleep at her computer.”

“It’s Ellie,” she corrected. “I remembered my name and asked Marina if she could find my file. If you look at my conversation with her last night you should find it.”

“Oh that’s cool!” Pearl replied. “Ellie is a really pretty name, it fits you. I don’t wanna look through that so I’ll let her do it when she wakes up.”

“What do you want to do today, Ellie?” the Captain asked. 

While she’d spent the last few days being referred to as Eight, being called Ellie once more felt right. “I think I’m going to finish all of the tests before getting the last thang. I’m so close to getting them all.”

The Captain nodded. “Stay safe, kiddo.”

She selected the first of the few tests remaining. She was determined now. The mem cakes were actually helping her memories. She was only missing a few pieces. She would get them back before reaching the Promised Land.


	9. Closing In

Leanne and Nella left the room with the vats behind them, making a run for it when the coast was clear. 

They made their way through hallway after hallway, following the map on Nella’s CQ-80. The exit to this place was just ahead. They just had to turn this corner and-

An alarm sounded and Sanitized Octoling surrounded them from all sides, some dropping down from the ceiling. 

“Fucking shit,” Leanne exclaimed as she pulled out her Heroshot. This didn’t look good. It didn’t matter how skilled she was, she didn’t stand a chance against 20 soldiers.

Meanwhile, Nella dug into their pocket and pulled their phone.

“Right now is really not the time.”

The Octolings stepped closer, pointing their guns at them. “Surrender or die,” one of them droned. It could have been any of them. 

Leanne held her gun tighter. “Nella?” 

Nella ignored her, frantically scrolling through their phone before finally finding the song they’d been looking for. 

For a second, there was jumbled radio noises. Then the voices of the Squid Sisters echoed in the hall.

The Calamari Inkantation.

Leanne figured there was no way this would work. These Octolings were sanitized, brainwashed. The Inkantation couldn’t possibly affect them.

Except it it did. They all lowered their weapons and seemed to be in a sort of daze. 

Nella grabbed Leanne and made a run for it. They were near the door out of here. Nella ran through, broke the lock and kept running. The song was still blaring from their phone, not daring to turn it off. 

They eventually stopped for breath. 

“I had no clue if that would work or not,” Nella said between two breaths. 

“Thank cod it did, otherwise we’d be calamari right now,” Leanne replied. 

Nella checked the map. They were near a place labeled “Central command”, right below which was the central station of the DeepSea Metro. They looked at each other and grinned. They weren’t far now.

Nella stopped the song, but kept their phone close. Now that whoever ran this place knew they were here, there was no risks to take. They hurried. There was no time to waste. 

C:≡ くコ:彡C:≡ 

Ellie passed test after test, doing most of them on her first try. Nothing was really challenging anymore, though there were a few that gave her trouble, like the rainmaker or tower control simulations. 

After a few hours, she got to the last thang. She walked to it, not feeling the need to swim her way there. She shot the shield and grinned as it broke. She smiled really wide as she took a picture with her CQ-80 and walked back to the train. It made its way back to the central station, a cheery tune playing. 

She sat next to the Captain, talking with him, Iso Padre, Pearl and Marina. 

She remembered everything. She talked a bit about it during the long train ride. She was excited. She’d done every test! Even C.Q. Cumber congratulated her and gave her extra CQ points. (Not that she planned on using them.)

When she arrived at the central station, she heard a door open. She looked around, completely ignoring the telephone. She walked over to a row of lockers. Locker number 8 was open and inside was a golden hairpin. 

Two years ago, those squidtastic grooves had changed her life. A week ago, her fight against Agent 3 had changed her life once more. 

She reached out to grab the hairpin.

C:≡ くコ:彡C:≡ 

Soon enough, they turned the corner that would lead them to the central command. They peered around the corner and saw a single Sanitized Octoling standing in front of the door.

“It looks different,” Leanna muttered. “What’s up with its tentacles?”

“He’s male; they’ve cut his tentacles,” Nella replied. 

That explained nothing, but Leanne didn’t have the energy to ask. Though she’d never seen a male Octoling before. 

“Long story short, us Octarians can’t reproduce sexually and tentacle cuttings from males become children,” Nella explained without prompting. 

Nella looked around the corner again. “Wait a fucking second. That’s Paishe!”

“Adeline’s little brother?”

“Yeah.”

“Fuck.”

Now they had to figure out how to get around him. 

Nella messed around with her CQ-80. “You can head to the central station through that corridor.” They pointed at it and Leanne saw that it was right before the gate to the central command.

“You go,” Nella said. “I’ll stay at the Command Center and hold down the fort. I’ll meet you on the surface.”

“I’m not leaving you-” Nella shushed her. Leanne had never seen such determination in someone’s eyes. 

“I’ll blast the Calamari Inkantation through the entire facility so you can get through without a fight. Take this.”

She handed Leanne her bag. “In there, you’ll find the papers that explains the de-sanitization process. Don’t lose it.”

Leanne carefully took it. “Are you sure?”

Nella nodded. “You have a better shot than I do at this. I’m no soldier. I’m just a DJ.”

“Be careful,” Leanne replied, slinging the bag on her back, under her cloak. “Do you have a pen?” she asked.

“Yeah, why?” Nella answered, pulling a pen out of their pockets. 

Leanne took both it and Nella’s arm. She started writing. “Once you get to the surface, call this number. It’s my phone number. No matter where you end up, I’ll come get you.”

They looked at the number and nodded. 

“Keep your CQ-80 close,” Nella said. “We should be able to communicate with it.”

Leanne nodded and put the CQ-80 in her vest pocket, where she’d feel it if it went off. 

“Good luck,” Leanne said. 

Nella nodded. 

Nella started the Calamari Inkantation and they turned the corner. Leanne ran past them, heading for the path that would lead her to the Central Station. 

Nella ran towards Paishe. He was dazed because of the song, but he did point his charger at them. They grabbed his weapon just as he shot and pushed it aside, ramming the butt of the weapon into his stomach. 

They quietly apologised as they punched him square in the jaw and he collapsed. Ok, maybe that had been a little too much, but it was better safe than sorry. They dragged him inside so no one would see him should they come by.

The door to Central Command opened and they went inside, seeing a series of computers and screens. They “locked” the door by shoving Paishe’s charger into the door handles.

They started typing and looked for the music. All of them aside from a few exceptions were theirs.

“They won’t mind if I take over,” they grinned. 

They plugged in their phone and retook her title as DJ.

C:≡ くコ:彡C:≡ 

Leanne ran, hearing a quick fight behind her. She ignored it. Nella could probably handle themself. She followed the map and found herself going down winding stairs and corridors. She inked the ground as she went, swimming as quickly as her tentacles allowed her to. 

After a few anxious moments, the normal music faded out and was replaced by radio jumble. She grinned. 

Nella had made it. 

Now she just had to do her part. 

Find Ellie.

Get to the surface.

She could do this.

C:≡ くコ:彡C:≡ 

_Ellie was in an arena. An old one, used last long before she was born. Agent 3 stood above her._

_She super jumped and used a splashdown. Ellie’s usual E-Liter was replaced by an Octoshot._

_She got ready to fight. She ducked back into her own ink, swimming around the arena and hid behind an obstacle. She heard the distinct sound of an Inkjet activating. She swam around the obstacle, then once the alarm for the Inkjet sounded, she headed to the marker and fired. Agent 3 landed and Ellie landed a few shots before 3 rolled away. Somehow. Even if she didn’t have dualies. What the fuck._

_She landed a few more shots and Agent 3 went down. Unfortunately, she stood, shook herself off and superjumped. She jumped back down, once again using splashdown._

_Ellie swam away, then threw a bomb as soon as 3 landed. She took some damage, but not enough. Immediately, Agent 3 used another special; the bubble blower. The fucker must’ve hacked her limiter. Thankfully, she could swim behind Agent 3 and shot her in the back while she was shooting off her bubbles._

_Agent 3 groaned and superjumped, using another splashdown as she landed. Ellie swam away. 3 threw an autobomb that Ellie just narrowly dodged. Then Agent 3 threw another. And another. And another. An autobomb launcher? Really? How fucking unfair was that?_

_She deciding that swimming for her life was her best course of action. So she did just that, occasionally getting out of her ink to shoot Agent 3. Eventually, she shot her enough times. Agent 3 did her usual thing and super jumped before… not using a splashdown?_

_Instead, she landed on top of a platform further away from the arena and started shooting into it. She also threw some autobombs. She even had Tenta missiles. Thankfully, 3 was in range of Ellie’s splatbombs. She landed a few good hits._

_Agent 3 super jumped again. And again. And again. What happened to having to ink a certain amount of turf to activate specials? Ellie hid behind some obstacles to avoid the splash of ink. Once Agent 3 was done using her specials, Ellie went in to shoot, feeling her own special activate. She waited for Agent 3 to be just weak enough and used her own splashdown._

_Agent 3 was dazed and covered in blue ink. This was Ellie’s chance to get rid of the menace that was Agent 3. The Agent 3 that had defeated DJ OCtavio. That was death on legs. That had killed countless Octarians. That was the reason she’d heard the Calamari Inkantation._

_Two years ago, Ellie would’ve killed Agent 3 on the spot. But now? She couldn’t. She just couldn’t. She could just leave her here, dazed and probably concussed while she could make a run for it and get to the surface. Yeah, she would do that._

_Right as she turned away, she heard the noise of a splashdown. She whirled around, expecting to see Agent 3, except she was still on the floor. She looked up and saw someone above._

_She didn’t even have the time to swear before a massive wave of green ink hit her._


	10. Close Call

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im back in college and the next chapter is massive, so it might not come out tomorrow. should be out by saturday though

Nella made sure that the Calamari Inkantation was playing throughout the entire underground and not just the facility. It was playing in the metro, in the stations, even through the public speakers in the town. 

They looked behind them, where Paishe was still passed out on the floor. They couldn’t abandon him. He’d been Ellie’s boyfriend after all (maybe he still was? They had no idea). He was already rousing, though the Calamari Inkantation should keep him in check. Worse comes to worse they could probably tie him up.

He jumped to his feet, looking around. “Who are you?” His voice sounded a little garbled, probably because they’d punched him in the jaw. Sorry about that.

“General DedF1sh,” they replied, taking on the most authoritative voice they could muster. 

“I only take orders from Commander Tartar.”

“Have you forgotten? You new orders are to obey to me and only me.”

He nodded. Thankfully, the Calamari Inkantation made him more susceptible to listening to orders. Even if those orders were bullshit. He didn’t need to know that part.

“What do you wish me to do, General DedF1sh?” He folded his arms behind his back and stood up straight. 

“Guard the entrance,” they ordered. “Don’t let anyone inside.”

He nodded and took the charger, then went to stand in front of the door. 

くコ:彡C:≡ くコ:彡

Ellie took the golden hairpin from the locker and tucked it behind her ear. Then, she turned back to the telephone. She was done with this place. She was ready for the Promised Land.

“Congratulations, number 10 008!” the telephone said. “The way to the Promised Land has opened!”

It floated up and all of the four thangs came into place. There were ominous sounds that sounded like the screams of the damned opening a door so she and the captain could step inside.

“Home sweet home, here we come!” The Captain exclaimed. 

They stepped inside. 

“Uh,” Marina’s voice sounded through her CQ-80, “Is it just me, or does that look like kinda exactly like a blender?”

“INGREDIENT ACQUISITION CONFIRMED.” The telephone droned. “Reformatting matter.”

“Did it just-” Ellie muttered. “Fuck.”

In any other situation the Captain would have reprimanded her for swearing, but he swore too, so it was probably alright.

“Marina!” Pearl shouted. “You gotta do something! They’re gonna get smoothied!” 

“I’m trying!” Marina shouted back. “None of my hacks are getting through! I’m going to activate the distress signal on your CQ-80, Ellie. Cross your fingers everyone!”

くコ:彡C:≡ くコ:彡

Leanne heard an alarm and looked at the CQ-80. There was someone in distress below. As in, right below her. She looked down from the walkway she was on and saw a glass floor. Without hesitating, she jumped down. 

She saw the Captain and an Octoling in a blender What they were doing there was beyond her, but she had to do something. She aimed for the telephone thing above the lid and rammed into it. She hit the glass of the blender full force.

This was going to hurt like hell. 

くコ:彡C:≡ くコ:彡

Ellie heard the sound of glass shattering and an Inkling fell from the ceiling. She found herself on the floor, broken glass all around her. 

There was a piece in her arm, without thinking, she pulled it out and immediately regretted it. There was another in her leg. It would slow her down, so she removed it as well. She regretted that too. 

“Agent 3?!” Captain shouted. 

Ellie looked over. Agent 3 was sprawled out on the ground, her eyes closed with a pained expression on her face. Smashing through a glass ceiling and then a blender was bound to hurt like hell. 

“That’s who you’ve been looking for?” Pearl asked. “What’s that?”

There was a blue CQ-80 near her hand. 

“It looks like a employee model CQ-80,” Marina said. “Hang on, let me see if I can hack into it.” There was a pause and Ellie stood up, wincing. Her leg and arm were bleeding, but she would be fine.Probably. Now was not the time to worry about a flesh wound. Especially since Agent 3 seemed to be in far worse shape than she was.

“These are blueprints of the entire facility!” Marina exclaimed. “You can use these to get out of here. First, go through that hole that Agent 3 made.”

“You go on ahead, Ellie,” the Captain declared as he turned to her. “I’ll watch over Agent 3 until she comes to. No Agents left behind!”

Ellie nodded. She super jumped. 

くコ:彡C:≡ くコ:彡

Nella could access cameras now. They looked around everywhere for Ellie. They found her in a blender and their hearts sank. Even from here, they couldn’t do anything. They sighed when Leanne came bursting through like a damn superhero. 

Then, like a not superhero, Leanne passed the fuck out. Nella couldn’t hear what they were talking about, but it was probably about Leanne’s wellbeing. Then, Ellie shifted into Octopus form and superjumped.

They saw that Ellie was super jumping to an area with no ink and she had no weapons. For some reason, there was an option to put unsanitized ink in the area. They did. 

They also looked at the next areas and placed splatbombs and an Octoshot. It was the least they could do. 

“Stay safe Ellie,” they muttered under their breath. “We’ll be together again soon.”


	11. Escape!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd recomment listening to nasty majesty while reading this chapter, its what i had on repeat while writing and editing the two chapters I fused together to make this chapter. (it has no right to go that hard for a prison break song)

Ellie landed and looked around. It was completely silent. The usual music of the facility was gone. 

“You don’t have a weapon, so be careful,” the Captain told her. “Don’t get spotted.”

She swam through the ink, carefully making her way through and sneaking past everything. She had no idea why there was ink her colour, but she was thankful. She’d be dead without it. 

She got spotted once, but she was so close to the launchpad that she made a swim for it. 

C:≡ くコ:彡C:≡ 

Nella could detect signals from outside of the facility. They listened in. It was people talking to Ellie. They also detected music. A song called “Nasty Majesty”. 

They made it play where Ellie was, keeping the Calamari Inkantation everywhere else. 

Their sister deserved a prison break song, and this one was enough of a banger for it. 

C:≡ くコ:彡C:≡ 

Ellie landed in a new area. 

“I can see weapon signatures nearby,” Marina told her. “Find one so you can defend yourself!”

There was a large room ahead of her with an Octoseeker. There was a vault and boxes. The key was probably in one of them. 

“You think I can lure it to destroy the boxes for me?” Ellie wondered aloud. 

“It’s likely,” Marina answered. 

“How’s Agent 3, Cap’n?” Pearl asked. 

“Still out like a light,” he replied. 

“Is she bleeding?” Ellie asked as she attracted the attention of the Octoseeker.

“A few cuts from knocking out the telephone, but nothing major. It’s already starting to heal up,” he replied.

“That reminds me,” Marina added while the Octoseeker stomped down and revealed a key. “Ellie, you’ll have to let me take a look at your back. With all those explosions, there’s bound to be some damage.”

Ellie nodded as she ran to the vault. “It does sting a bit, now that you mention it. I also got some glass shards in my arm earlier.” That was a lie. Her back didn’t just sting. It felt like someone had skinned her back and dumped acid on the wound. At least her ink tank made it so no one could see her back. But if she paused to think about her back, she wouldn’t be able to resist the urge to curl up into a ball and cry.

“Man, you’re good with pain,” Pearl said. “I cried because of a papercut the other day.”

Ellie and Marina laughed. 

Beyond the vault, Ellie did more hiding and found canned splat bombs. She finally had some way to defend herself. She returned to the room with the Octoseeker and used the bomb to ink the ink switch. 

This next section had Octohurlers. She used her bombs to defeat them and moved forward with propellers. Before long, she found a canned weapon. 

It was an Octoshot. She grinned. Sure, she was best when she had an E-Liter in her hands, but she was also a menace with the Octoshot. She’d spent years fighting with this thing. It might as well be second nature. Whoever stood in her way from now on didn’t stand a chance. 

She superjumped back to the Octoseeker, ignoring him completely. 

She heard garbled noises. “What was that?” she asked. 

“The telephone is making noises, looks like it’s not quite dead yet,” the Captain replied. 

“Give it a few smacks for me.”

“Oh, good idea.”

She heard the noise of wood smacking metal. 

She inked the wall behind the Octoseeker and climbed it. There were a series of ink rails and an Octosniper. She could be sneaky, but it could see her really easily. Instead, she swam through the rails quickly, emerged and shot the sniper so he would leave her alone. 

The door opened and she boarded the launchpad.

C:≡ くコ:彡C:≡ 

Nella had kept one of the memory sticks and put it into the mainframe. They kept an eye on the cameras that were tracking Ellie while looking through files. 

There were more files about sanitization. They stumbled onto their own file. They weren’t able to read it. Well, it was written in Octonese, so she could, but they didn’t feel like they could. Maybe they’d read it later. 

They looked back at Ellie to see her jumping to a new area. There was nothing they could do from here to help her out. 

Maybe if there was a microphone, they could send a message. They started looking around for one. 

C:≡ くコ:彡C:≡ 

Ellie landed and found herself on a platform above a large pool of water. 

“Don’t fall,” Pearl said. 

“I won’t,” Ellie replied, peering over the edge. 

“Keep moving,” Marina said. “You’re getting close to the energy core you’ll need to get to the surface.”

“Hey Marina,” Pearl said. “Are you hearing our music?”

“Yes!” Marina replied. “It’s odd though. I thought it was coming from Ellie’s CQ-80, but it’s actually coming from the speakers of the facility.”

“That’s odd. What’s our music doing down there?”

“I’ve got no clue. Anyway, Ellie, my readings show you’re getting closer to the surface, so don’t give up!”

She moved on, inking the sinking platforms and carefully jumping to them. She just had to get to the other side to get the key to the vault. 

She was careful with each jump, not wanting to sink to the bottom. She found a burst bomb rush special and used to ink everything around her quickly. She got to the other side, splatted a few Octos and collected the vault key. She made her way back, grabbing another burst bomb special to conserve her ink. 

She opened the vault and found herself above moving platforms. There was a missile Octotrooper waiting at the end of it. She fired as she swam and jumped around the platforms. One wrong move and she would plummet into the water below. There were no respawners or checkpoints here; if she fell that was it.

She sighed once she reached the other side and had splatted the missile Octotrooper. 

“How’s Agent 3?” she asked. It was mostly to distract herself from the chance of impending doom below. She wanted someone to talk to distract her. Sure, the song was fucking awesome, but conversations were better.

“Still not awake,” the Captain replied. 

There was another garbled noise, followed by wood hitting metal. “Just stop working already you damn phone!”

Ellie laughed and boarded the launch pad. 

C:≡ くコ:彡C:≡ 

Nella couldn’t find anything that looked like a microphone. Damn. 

They looked at the area Ellie was getting to next. It didn’t look good. Those lasers would do her in. They messed around with the controls. 

They replaced the walls with inkable ones. There. Now Ellie would be safe. 

They still wanted to find a microphone, so they kept looking.

C:≡ くコ:彡C:≡ 

Ellie found herself in a hallway. 

“Are those lasers?” Pearl asked. “Looks like they’d hurt. Don’t get hit!”

Ellie nodded.

She looked around and saw that behind grass walls there were a bunch of IV drips and bags. They were all empty, but they looked used. She didn’t want to know what they’d been used for, but she had a feeling it was nothing good. Some were even on the floor.

This section was actually quite easy. The only time she got caught off guard was when the only way was to swim up the wall. She just barely climbed up on time. Aside from that brief moment of panic, she was fine. 

She heard garbled noises again.

“What’s up Cap?” Pearl asked. “Is Agent 3 awake?

“Nope,” he sighed.

“YOU!” She jumped. Shit. That was the phone. “You measly scrap of seafood! YOU’LL PAY FOR THIS!”

“Whaaaa?” Telephone!” Cap’n sounded panicked. “What are you doing to Agent 3? Leave her alone!”

“Number 10 008, why are you associating with these superfluous nobodies?” the phone’s voice rang through her ears and the walls around her.

The captain screamed.

“Captain?” Ellie called. “Captain!”

“Cap!” Pearl shouted. “What happened? Answer!”

There was no response. 

“Marina!” Pearl shouted. “Can you find out what happened?”

“Working on it!” Ellie briefly heard the sound of frantic typing. 

“Keep going, Ellie,” Pearl told her. “You focus on getting to the surface.”

She couldn’t deny being scared for the Captain and Agent 3, but she had to keep moving. 

She reached the end of the section and got on the launchpad. 

C:≡ くコ:彡C:≡ 

Nella looked over to the central station camera just time to see an old-timey telephone zap an unconscious Leanne and cover her in sanitized ink. 

They watched as it covered part of her face and she rose to her feet. She attacked the captain, following the phone’s orders. She grabbed the old Inkling and super jumped out of sight. 

Shit. Leanne was a strong fighter. So was Ellie, but since Leanne was now sanitized, Ellie probably wouldn’t stand a chance. 

They resumed their search for a microphone. They had to warn Ellie. 

C:≡ くコ:彡C:≡ 

“The energy core shouldn’t be far from where you are,” Marina said. “There’s an equipper nearby, use that.”

“Can you check in on the Cap’n and Agent 3?” Pearl asked. “I’m real worried about those two.”

Ellie didn’t allow herself to worry about him and Agent 3. She had to focus on getting to the surface an on staying alive. 

She got to the equipper and was given an Inkjet. Oh, this was gonna be great. She was careful as she flew over pits so she wouldn’t die. There was no respawner here. If she got hurt, that was it. 

She took her time collecting all of the data points. She’d done enough of these durings tests that she knew what she was doing even if she’d never been here. 

Each data point released one of the locks on the energy core. When she collected the eighth, her Inkjet exploded and sent her back to the equipper. She watched as the energy core skyrocketed up. 

A launchpad appeared and she jumped in. 

She landed next to a platform in which the energy core had settled. Oh. This was going to be like one of those protect the orb missions, wasn’t it? She hoped it wasn’t like Girl Power Station. 

“You have to get the platform to the other side,” Marina explained. “Shooting the core should make the platform advance. Don’t let it take too much damage.”

“Be careful, Ellie,” Pearl added. 

“I will be,” she replied. 

She advanced slowly, being super careful. She also ran out of ink a lot. Damn splat bombs and their high ink consumption. 

She sighed of relief when the platform reached the end and was plugged in. 

“Hang tight Ellie,” Pearl said. “We’re coming to pick you up in the chopper!”

“The heli? Really?” Marina sounded astonished. “You think we’ll need it?”

“Well, it’s not like we’re gonna have a reason to use it otherwise,” Pearl replied. 

“You're right,” Marina laughed. 

Ellie walked forward.

C:≡ くコ:彡C:≡ 

Nella couldn’t find a microphone. They had no way to warm Ellie or communicate with her. THey couldn’t even write down something and make it appear on a wall. 

However, they had an idea. They could tell that Ellie was nearing where the sanitized Leanne had superjumped to. 

There was one thing they could do. One thing that they knew Ellie would recognise as something they were responsible for. 

C:≡ くコ:彡C:≡ 

Ellie stepped onto the elevator. 

It started going up until she reached a larger platform. It started going up as well. She held her Octoshot close. 

The world was silent once again and she could feel her hearts in between her temples. 

A floating platform caught up with the elevator and it creaked to a stop.

“Ellie!” Captain Cuttlefish shouted. “Agent 3’s mind was hijacked by that crazy phone!”

She looked up at Agent 3.One of her eyes was covered by goo that looked like sanitized ink. Her tentacles were green and so were here eyes. She looked down at her, turned and jumped down, landing with a splashdown. 

A song started playing, one that Ellie recognised as one of Nella’s remixes of Inkling songs: Splattack (Octo). Nella had never released it publicly. The only copies of it were on Nella’s computer and phone. It had to be them. She felt energised. Like she could take down the world. 

She threw a splat bomb right as Agent 3 landed, hitting her. The sanitized ink Agent 3 shot burnt every time they hit, but Ellie couldn’t feel pain, not right now. Not when the surface was so close. 

Agent 3 wasn’t afraid to use every special in the book, but Ellie wasn’t afraid of her. She could counter everything. The Baller could be avoided easily and so could the curling bomb launcher.

At some point, Agent 3 got close. Close enough to try to reach for her and scratch her face. Ellie blocked with her arm. She grabbed Agent 3 and threw her across the elevator to get some distance between them. 

Eventually, Agent 3’s armour broke. She was covered in Ellie’s ink and simply dropped to the floor. She wasn’t moving. Carefully, Ellie walked closer, Octoshot held tightly. 

She knelt in front of Agent 3. The blob of ink that had been there before was on the ground and Ellie shot it to make sure it wouldn’t jump or something. Agent 3 seemed fine. At least, as fine as someone could be after falling through a glass ceiling, breaking a blender, getting hijacked by a phone and then fighting a trained Elite Octoling soldier. She was once again passed out, but she was breathing.

The ink from their battle was already fading.

This would be the last time she would have to fight Agent 3. That kids like them would have to fight each other. Ellie didn’t why she got that impression, but she did.

“Would you mind untying me Ellie?” The Captain said. 

Ellie jumped, grabbing him. She pulled him down and the two fell on the ground. She untied him after that. 

The elevator started moving again. The Captain kneeled down next to Agent 33 to check on her.

“Is she gonna be ok?” Pearl asked. 

“The goo is off her face, so she should be,” Ellie replied. 

“We’ll be there soon, Ellie,” Marina said. “See you on the other side!”

Ellie looked up. She could see the exit. The elevator came to a stop

Her final obstacle was a really tall ladder. 

She looked behind her, where Agent 3 was still passed out on the floor. “How do we get her up the ladder?” she asked.

Captain Cuttlefish waved his arm. “I’ll take care of it, you go on ahead.”

Ellie nodded and started climbing.


	12. Fly Octo Fly!

Ellie reached the top of the ladder and pulled herself up. 

She heard a whistling sound and looked around. Wind. It was her first time feeling wind on her face. She smiled. The sky was orange and in the distance, she could see buildings. She walked forward, putting one of her tentacles behind her ear.

She put her hand on the rail and looked below. The same noise she’d heard when the Captain played the original Calamari Inkantation came to her attention. She looked down and saw waves of water crashing against the building. 

She heard the Captain clumber up, but couldn’t look away from the sky. 

She also heard more wind and looked around, seeing helicopters that were blasting music. The same song she’d heard earlier while she was escaping. She could see two people standing on a stage carried by one of the helicopters.

“Ellie!” she heard Pearl shout. “We got you!”

She smiled and waved. 

That helicopter got close, extending a platform from its bottom. Ellie hopped on, helping the Captain get Agent 3 on it. 

“Well, that’s a relief,” Marina said. “We can breathe easy now.”

The helicopter started flying away from the platform and toward the city. Ellie couldn’t look away from the sky. She’d never seen it before. It was beautiful.

She jumped when Pearl and the Captain started rapping.

“Here we go again,” Marina laughed. 

Ellie smiled as she looked up. 

Then, she heard a beeping noise and looked down, back at the platform she’d emerged on. It was… rising?

“Um…” Marina said. “Are you guys seeing this?”

“What.. is… that?!” Pearl exclaimed.

“That form…” the Captain said. “But they were said to have been destroyed so long ago. It’s human!”

The thing kept rising until it was several hundred feet higher at at eye-level with the helicopter

“Huh? Not that phone again!” The Captain shouted. 

“TARTAR IN DA HOUSE!” it shouted. “[DISABLING CONTEMPORARY SPEECH MODE]. I am TARTAR, an AI constructed 12 000 years ago by a brilliant professor. My prime directive is to pass humanity’s vast knowledge on to the next worthy lifeform. When your kind became self-aware, I hoped that my long wait was finally over. But as I observed your evolution, I WAS DISGUSTED! You wage war over minor genetic deviations. You obsess over trivial fashion choices. And so I created a new prime directive: destroy this world and start anew!”

Well, that didn’t sound good.

It continued. “From the best and brightest test subjects, I created a sludge of supreme DNA. A primordial ooze from which the ultimate lifeform will emerge. Today is the day my vision becomes reality, as I destroy Inkopolis and everyone in it!”

Ellie didn’t have the time react to any of that information as the mouth of the statue started opening and a massive canon emerged. She could see at the edge of it blenders. Just like the one she’d just made by collecting all four thangs. 

“Yo… What the heck is that?!” Pearl sounded panicked, which considering the situation, was probably the correct response. 

“Uh, wait a sec..” Marina pulled out her laptop. “I’m analysing it. I’m picking up a massive amount of energy emanating from the statue.”

“That doesn’t sound good! At all!” Pearl was jumping in place. 

“So, yeah… That statue is charging up enough energy to destroy the world,” Marina said as if she wasn't realising what exactly she was saying. 

“HOW DO WE STOP IT????” Pearl shouted. Ellie seconded that.

“Ok, um…” Marina said, typing furiously. “The entire statue seems to be absorbing sunlight and converting it to energy. If we cover the whole thing in ink, we should be able to stop it from charging.”

“You’re saying we have to ink that entire chunk of rock? Seriously? That’s insane!” Pearl exclaimed. Ellie seconded that as well. 

“We can use the hyperbombs I’m working on, but they’re still prototypes,” Marina explained. “They have to be manually detonated, so Ellie’ll have to shoot each one.”

Ellie nodded. She could do that. 

“What can I do?” Pearl asked.

“Once the statue isn’t charging anymore, you need to hit it with a full-power battle cry,” Marina replied. 

“Wait, what?” Pearl said. “I haven’t done that in forever. I don’t even know if I can do it anymore.”

“Well, we only have about three minutes until that thing is ready to fire. So use that time to warm up your vocal chords! We need maximum Pearl!” 

“Got it,” Pearl replied. “Blowing out my voice is a small price to pay for saving the world!”

“And…” The Captain said. “What about me?”

Marina gave him a look before smiling sheepishly. “You can, um… You can be the hype man!”

“You got it!” he replied, jumping to his feet far faster than a man his age should be able to. “World about to blow- SQUIDBEAK LET’S GO!”

Ellie superjumped to the shoulder of the statue as Marina gave her instructions on when and where she was going to drop the hyperbombs. She held her Octoshot tightly and got ready. 

This was it. 

くコ:彡C:≡ くコ:彡

Nella managed to send a message out to the nearest device, which was a laptop. They knew what was going on up there and they couldn't help from down here. 

As the ground shook, they typed out a message and attached a file to it. 

“General,” Paishe said. “In the case of an earthquake, it is protocol to stay here, as it is more secure than the rest of the facility.”

They nodded. 

They sent the message. It was up to Ellie now.

DJ_DeadF1sh: Hey, I know you’re one of the people whose been helping Ellie. I wrote this just for her a few years back, so play it for her. If you’re who I think you are, you know the lyrics to this. Good luck. [attached file: fly_octo_fly.wav]

Marina heard the message notification and quickly looked. Oh. Yeah, she knew this song. She clicked it, then made it play through the speakers. 

“What song is this?” Pearl asked. 

“It was written for Ellie,” Marina explained. “Follow my lead for this one, alright?”

Pearl nodded. “You know, if this somehow doesn’t work, I’m glad I met you. And that we can go out singing together.”

Marina smiled and grabbed her microphone. “Me too. But we won’t fall here. Not today.”

She started singing. 

くコ:彡C:≡ くコ:彡

Ellie smiled at the song that started playing. Nella had written Fly Octo Fly when she’d first become an Elite soldier. This was perfect. It felt like her sister was right there next to her. It gave her the boost of energy she needed to do this. 

Five hyperbombs dropped on the statue’s chest. She shot them all of the bombs rather quickly. 

“Alright,” The Captain said in her earpiece. “Marina’s dropping five hyperbombs on its neck in ten seconds. Take a rest near one of the points in the meantime.”

She nodded. She was right next to one of the spots, so she just waited there. 

With a loud noise, five more bombs dropped on the neck. She shot the one next to her and moved on, using the Captain’s instructions to get around. 

“The next bombs will be on its back,” the Captain declared. 

She swam near the edge of the inkrail that would take her on the back. There was a drop site right before it, so she waited. 

Once the bombs dropped, she made that one explode, then hopped onto the inkrail, shooting 4 more bombs. 

“1 minute down, 2 to go!” the Captain shouted. “You can do it Ellie!” 

She could do it. She emerged near the right arm, but stayed on the ink rail so she could see where the bombs were going to drop since she still had a bit of time. 

“Ninety seconds!” Marina shouted. “Dropping five on its right arm!”

“You can do this Ellie!” Pearl shouted as well. “I believe in you! Stay focused!”

“Subject 10 008, stop this foolery!” Commander Tartar ordered. “You cannot hope to defeat NILS!”

Oh, but she was doing it. She was going to defeat this damn statue. 

She blew up four bombs, then swam to the top of the arm to blow up the last one. 

In ten seconds, ten bombs would drop on the statue’s head. She took that time to catch her breath and evaluate the situation. 

“Two minutes- this is it!” Marina said. “Dropping ten on its head.”

“The rest is up to you, Ellie!” Pearl shouted. “I believe in you!”

“Prove Tartar wrong!” Marina shouted. “Show him what we’re made of! That are species are worthy of life!”

The song changed. She felt invincible and another surge of energy. She jumped into the inkrail, shooting as she went. 

She blew up some bombs then found herself in front of the telephone that called itself Commander Tartar. She flipped him off and kept shooting. 

She changed the rail she was on. 

“Thirty seconds until the statue has enough energy to destroy the world!” The Captain shouted. 

Five bombs left. 

Four. 

Three. 

Two. 

“One bomb left!” Pearl cheered. 

Ellie shot it and it exploded about a second later. 

“The statue has stopped charging!” Marina exclaimed. 

“Ellie, stay there until we’re ready!” The Captain ordered. 

The ten second timer started. 

“I’m just about warmed up…” Pearl said. 

Ellie shot the statue just for the hell of it. 

The song ended.


	13. Into the Light

After they’d sent the message to Marina, Nella knew they had to get out. According to the blueprints, the metro part of the facility and everything except what Ellie had just gone through would hold should the statue fall. Which it would because Ellie could do whatever it was she had to do. 

They looked back at Paishe, who was still standing guard and hadn’t moved an inch. They looked through their blueprints of the facility, looking for another exit. There had to be more. Soon enough, they found an exit that led to an area of the Octo Depths. They recognised the area as one that had been shut down when they were little. 

They also knew that in that district there was an old kettle that led to the surface. 

Nella made sure that the Calamari Inkantation would keep playing without pause while they were gone. They would come back here. They had to. For Adeline. For every person trapped down here, sanitized or not. 

For now though, they had to get out themselves. They looked through a closet in the corner of central command and found an Octoshot and an ink tank. They weren’t sure what those were doing there, but they weren’t complaining. 

They slipped on the tank, the feeling unfamiliar on her back after so many years of DJ’ing instead of fighting. Even then, holding an Octoshot was just as much muscle memory as working on turntables.

They set out, following the path on the blueprints, Paishe following close behind. Thanks to their new status as “General DedF1sh”, no one questioned their path. 

They made their way to the tunnel that would lead to that kettle. 

They would make it to the surface. 

They would join Ellie up there. 

They would remake their lives together.

That much was a promise.

They turned into an Octopus and jumped into the kettle.

くコ:彡 C:≡ くコ:彡

The inkrails vanished and Ellie fell. She looked for the helicopter, shifted into Octopus form and superjumped to the platform below the helicopter the others were on. She landed, grabbing one of the ropes to steady herself. 

She looked up to see Marina typing at her laptop. “Energy readings don’t indicate a full charge, but it looks like it’s going to fire anyway!” she shouted to be heard over the wind.. 

“Number 10 008,” Commander Tartar said. “No test subject has ever worked so hard to foil my plans.”

“I might not have been the first!” Ellie shouted. “But I will be the last!”

“It doesn’t matter,” he continued. “Now I will blend you into the perfect world the professor envisioned. Farewell, 10 008. Farewell to you and that worthless cesspool of a city…”

The canon was charging up, light gathering at its point. 

Pearl jumped down to the platform and pat Ellie’s back. 

“Great work Ellie! I got it from here.” 

Ellie took a step to the side. 

“VOCAL CHORDS, READY! AYO, STATUE!” Pearl’s hair glowed. She... She had a special ready?

She pulled out a massive Killer Wail. Holy shit.

The statue fired. 

“Boo-YAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!”

Ellie covered her ears as Peal screamed her lungs out. A column of ink came out of the Killer Wail and countered the statue’s.

For a moment, they were equal, then the green started taking over. After a few fear-filled moments, the pink ink overcame the green one and it hit the statue.

It hit the telephone head one and the statue started sinking. 

Silence fell over the bay. The only thing Ellie could hear was the wind, her hearts and her laboured breathing. 

Finally, Ellie let herself relax. It was over. Pearl jumped and high fived her. Marina jumped down and hugged Pearl, running into her so quickly that the two fell over. 

Ellie knelt down and smiled. She looked over and saw Agent 3 start to wake up. She held her head and looked around, looking really, really confused. 

Ellie smiled at her. Once upon a time, Agent 3 was enemy number 1. Now, she might be a friend. 

“Hey,” she said. “My name is Ellie, what’s yours?” 

Agent 3 looked at her for a moment before smiling as well. “I’m Leanne. Nice to meet you, Ellie.”

“Oh!” the Captain exclaimed. “You're finally awake!” 

Leanne nodded. 

“We should head back up in the chopper,” Pearl said once Marina separated herself from her. 

“Can we stay out here a bit?” Ellie asked. “The wind is nice. And the sky, too.”

Marina nodded and gave Ellie a hug. “Of course!”

Pearl sat at the edge and Ellie sat next to her. The Captain sat down too, then Leanne. Marina stayed standing, holding onto the one of the ropes that held up the platform. The five of them looked out to the sky. 

Through the clouds, the sun shone and warmed Ellie’s skin. This wasn’t like the artificial lights of the underground. This was actual sunlight. After a few minutes, the clouds broke and the sun shone through. She squinted and looked over at it. 

She couldn’t stop smiling. 

She was free. 

She was finally free. She’d made it to the surface. 

She’d reached out for the sky and come into the light.

This was the start of her new life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that was it! Well, kinda. It might be the end of this story, but it isn't the end of Ellie's story. There's already a sequel in the works, so keep an eye out for that. 
> 
> If you wanna talk about splatoon, I'm Fiorafriday on tumblr and @screaminabyss on twitter.
> 
> Until next time, thanks for reading!
> 
> EDIT: If you want to see what Ellie looks like in-game, here's a twitter pic of her once she's on the surface and living her best life: https://twitter.com/screaminabyss/status/1042954627090505728


End file.
